It Was Twilight Once More
by HaruluvRin
Summary: Its been a while since the acident. And Everythings going well... until Bella becomes ill, and there's a stranger in town. Will Edward be able to save his beloved? What will happen when The Beast is unleashed? BellaEdward POV
1. The Sweet Dawn

I woke in a cold sweat. The feeling of nausea was over whelming. Ripping my faded quilt off of myself I ran down the hall to the bathroom. The linoleum floor was comforting against my hot face. I lay on the floor as the waves of nausea came crashing down upon me.

Grabbing the toilet bowl for support I pulled myself to the sitting position. Blindly reaching up onto the sink counter, I found my hair tie and pulled my hair into a sloppy bun.

It was about 6:00 in the morning, and I spent the next 30 minuets retching in the toilet. 'Good thing Edward isn't here' I thought as I wiped the bile from my mouth. He would be having a fit. It was Sunday and the Cullen's had gone "camping" for the weekend out near Kent.

On shaky knees, I slowly made my way down the stairs to the kitchen to find Charlie sitting in his usual chair eating some eggs. He was going to go fishing with Billie and Jacob this morning and was waiting for them.

"Good morning Bells," he said taking a sip of coffee.

"Humph." I stated simply.

Charlie took a second to glance up at Bella and saw that she was paler than usual, she looked clammy.

"Are you ok Bella?" he said, concerned.

Oh great. He was goanna go parental on me. "I'm fine. It's just the stomach flu."

"I can cancel my trip today if you need me."

Charlie had grown more and more protective since my "fall down the stairs".

It was flattering that he was trying to be the parent, but lately he was on the verge of being annoying.

"No Dad. I'm fine really. I wouldn't want you to cancel your fun. It's not fair. You go, I'll be fine. I'm going to take it easy." Lying had become so easy in the past few months. To easy.

Gravel crunched in the driveway, there was a honk of a horn, and I could hear Jacob yelling for Charlie. Dad kissed my forehead and walked out the door with a good bye and a worried look in his eyes.

I made myself two eggs and some toast, setting it on the table I never touched it again. Still tasting the bitter bile I ran up the stairs to brush my teeth. I tripped twice on the thirteen step stairway. 'Slow down' I thought. I had just got my cast off two weeks ago, and I definitely wasn't in the market for another one. It seemed like my joints weren't working anymore, they were very sore.

After brushing my teeth I made my way down stairs, found a blanket and curled up on the couch. It was midsummer, yet I was freezing. Some days I wondered if I would ever adjust to the weather here in Forks.

I watched a Spanish soap opera for a few minutes, but I turned it off. It reminded me of my Mom. She used to sit and watch the soaps and make up what the people were saying. It wasn't as fun without her. My Mom still didn't like the idea of me returning to Forks. She visited for a few days and brought the rest of my things.

Edward and I were closer than ever. The tragedy of the attack turned out to be for the better. Though we were closer, it broke my heart to see him in pain. He blamed himself for what happened to me. I tried to reason with him, saying that it was my choice to enter the mirror room. For a while I couldn't even look into his eyes, those topaz eyes, filled with such pain. It was hard for me to bare. It was those moments when I was glad he couldn't hear my thoughts.

The digital clock on the table next to Charlie's chair read 7:00. Edward and his family would be driving back by now. Maybe, with the way Edward drove, they would be back in Forks by 10:00 or 10:30.

I decided that I should get ready for Edwards arrival. I was willing to bet good money that he wouldn't even stop home. He was like that, putting me first. After all, being immortal, he didn't have anything living that he felt he needed to take care of.

Getting up from the couch, I stopped short, my world spun around before my eyes. I put my hands to my head until everything stood still. I steadied myself and continued up the stairs to take a shower. My head was pounding, so I made a mental note to take some IB proven.

I was blow drying my hair in my pajamas, white "Fat Berger" t-shirt and my black spandex leggings, when I heard the door down stairs close. I turned off the blow dryer, could Charlie be home already? It was only 9:45.

My heart skipped a beat as the bathroom door opened to reveal… Edward. He was to perfect. Wearing a blue and white form fitting sweater showing a white collar. His muscular build was sleek, yet strong. He looked at me, pajamas and all, and sighed.

I blushed because I wasn't ready and I must have looked horrible.

"You look beautiful." He gave me that crooked smile I loved so much, showing his perfect white teeth.

Next thing I new I was in his cold loving embrace, his soft icy lips pressed to mine.


	2. Fatal

"You seem…happy." I said, my head resting on his defined chest.

We were both lying down on the couch wrapped in the quilt from my bed, both content to just lay there. Not saying a word. Why speak when we had a language of our own. We could understand everything we were thinking with just one touch. Our love was everything and nothing.

Edward was playing with a lock of my hair, twirling it between his fingers and delicately holding it up to his nose, taking in my sent. I squirmed a little, my headache was coming back, and I needed to take some more pain relievers. Edward had felt my movement and stared at me, concern in his eyes. We held each others gaze for what seemed like eternity. I didn't mind though, it gave me an excuse to look at him longer than necessary.

"Are you not feeling well?" Edward asked. I loved the way he talked.

"I'm O.K. It's just the stomach flu." I said weakly.

Edward gently put his hands on my shoulders and held me at arms length. Scrutinizing me.

"I'm going to make you breakfast in bed."

In a flash he was out from under me and in the kitchen. He donned Charlie's barbequing apron with a look of determination. It was all I could do to keep from laughing. A Greek God in and apron, it was hysterical. Edward glanced over at me with a smile on his face. He could hear me giggling behind my hands.

"You know, just because I don't eat, it doesn't make me a bad cook."

"How would you know," I said holding back the laughter. "It all tastes like dirt to you anyway."

He frowned a little at the comment. "That's beside the point."

"And what point is that?"

"I'm not quite sure, give me a moment." He turned on the stove and put the frying pan over the flame. "How about this, I've taken Family Health and Home economics about 30 times. Now that I think about it, probably more than that." He smiled at the thought.

"I see. So…can I take your picture?"

"ABSOLUTLY NOT!" He yelled, the sound amplifying my headache.

I looked at the floor for a long while. I didn't know what to say, he had never yelled at me before. It had brought tears to my eyes. First they where tears of sadness, but as my feelings developed into anger the tears flowed freely.

"I'm sorry I even asked O.K.! You could have just given me a simple yes or no."

Realizing what he had done Edward was at my side in an instant, a look of hurt in his eyes.

"I didn't mean to yell at you Bella. I'm sorry." he gently kissed my collar bone sending my heart pounding. I was fighting a loosing battle; I could never stay mad at Edward for very long. It was impossible. I could fake it of course, but it would kill me not to talk to him.

"It's fine. I'm not very hungry." I said avoiding his eyes. I got up to go turn the burner off when dizziness and nausea came once again. This was not good, not while Edward was here I thought.

I tried to ignore it, but it was all too much. I found myself on the floor, the world spinning, the nausea overwhelming. I tried to lift myself up from the ground, but my whole body was sore. I suddenly felt tired. I shut my eyes to the world that kept spinning around and around… I tried to fight the nausea. Edward's strong arms were around me in a second. He was calling to me.

"…Bella…Bella please. I'm going to call Carlisle. This is more than the flu Bella."

I opened my eyes to see I was lying on my bed. I could hear Edwards voice talking to Carlisle I assumed. I slid off of the bed and crawled to the bathroom. I barely made it to the toilet in time. I soon felt a cold hand on my back and another holding my hair back. 'Oh Edward' I thought. I was glad he was here and yet, I wished that he was with his family so he wouldn't have to see me vomiting in a toilet.

Once I was done reaching, I leaned back into Edward's arms.

"Carlisle should be here any minute Bella."

"I'm so embarrassed. I'm sorry you had to be here Edward."

"It's alright, I'm really glad that I was here. You would have never made it up the stairs." He looked at me and smiled. "And don't be embarrassed. Remember, the last part of my human life I spent this way. I can't remember a lot of things but it was not fun. Bella, I don't want you to be embarrassed around me."

There was a knock at the door down stairs. Edward left me in the bathroom to answer it. "Wait here." He said with a smile.

"As if I'm gonna go anywhere." I laid myself down on the cool linoleum and grabbed some toilet paper to wipe the sweat off of my face. The cold tile was soothing on my burning face.

There were foot steps approaching and Carlisle's voice. "Let's get you to your room and check you out Bella. Edward said you weren't feeling to well, I can see he was right. Edward, carry her to the bed please."

And once again I was in Edwards arms.


	3. The Beast

Ten miles from Forks, in the forest near the small town of Sappho, Victoria was running to her hotel room. She had just finished her business in Forks and had come to have a mid-day snack; she also had something else to feed…

Victoria licked the blood from her hands as she put another slab of meat on the platter. Humans are so stupid, she thought. They would surely label this mans death as a wild animal attack, and in reality, was it so different? She grabbed the large platter and starter running again into the forest.

Setting the platter down on the forest floor, Victoria looked into Its blank white eyes. She was deep into the forest no sound could be heard other than the deep guttural growl that was emanating from The Beasts mouth, and the sound of the three chains around its neck clashing together. It was covered in shadow and chained to a tree, hidden from the outside world, but that would soon change.

"Are you hungry?" Victoria said to the shadow that was The Beast. A roar was its answer.

"Are you _thirsty_? Do you need to _feed_?"

Instead of a growl or a roar there came a different sound. A loud, deep 'yes' came from the shadows, it wasn't a clear 'yes', it had a scratchiness to it.

"Good. I have a nice little snack waiting for you. A girl. Her name is _Isabella_."

"_Isabella_." The beast whispered back, its voice human, saying the name exactly how Victoria did.

Victoria moved the platter just out of reach of The Beast, taunting it.

"I was hoping you were hungry." And with that she left, leaving The Beast howling in misery from thirst and hunger.


	4. The beast with an angels face

Carlisle had given Bella some Advil P.M and some Pepto-Bismol for the nausea. Bella lay peacefully in her bed, finally relived from her horrors. Edward and Carlisle had tried to coax out of her what she was going through that day. She didn't give out much information, just that she felt nauseated, had headaches and had vomited earlier that morning. Edward and Carlisle sat patiently in the living room waiting for Charlie to come home so that Carlisle could tell him how best to care for Bella.

Carlisle sat still, leafing through one of his many medical books, only moving to turn a page. Edward, on the other hand was completely opposite. For some reason he couldn't keep still. He was waiting for Carlisle to make his diagnosis. After a long while, he couldn't stand it anymore. Even though he could see in Carlisle's mind that he was still looking for it, Edward broke down and asked if he had found anything yet.

"You of all people, Edward, should know that I'm still looking."

"But you have thought of some things. Poisoning? Could someone be poisoning Bella?"

Carlisle leaned forward and put a hand on his sons shoulder, comforting him. This was his first love, and probably going to be his only one. Edward and Bella's love had withstood so much already, there was no reason to think that it wouldn't go on forever. But there were many obstacles in their way, some of the hurtles they had jumped over without falling down, but the others had turned out to be a bloody and dangerous slip, and yet they still held on. Young love was truly amazing.

"She is showing symptoms of mild poisoning yes, but, it doesn't mean that someone is poisoning her. It could be coming from anything. Something in the water, she could have been cleaning and got some of the chemicals on her skin or in her eyes, even in her mouth. There are many possibilities Edward. And it could be the stomach flu as well. You never know."

"But you should know!" Edward stood and began to pace back and forth. "I'm going up to check on her." And with that, Edward went up the stairs leaving Carlisle with a little grin at the corners of his mouth.

It was hard for Edward to grasp the fact that Bella was so sick, she looked so peaceful laying there sleeping. Edward concentrated for a moment and breathed a little easier as soon as he saw the blankets slowly rise and fall with her every breath. He lifted the faded quilt and sheets and crawled under the covers with Bella. He put an arm around her waist and played with her hair with the other hand. 'This' he thought, 'would be the girl I would like to marry.'

'But that could never happen' he thought 'I will live forever. To know that I could only love her for a little while kills me.' He kissed her along her jaw and she stirred, rolling over and putting her arm across his chest while she murmured something. Edward aloud himself a short silent laugh, she was too much sometimes. It was amazing some of the things humans did in their sleep. He chuckled slightly as he remembered the time when Bella was sleepwalking and he had to save her from falling down the stairs. She could barely walk down the stairs awake; he didn't even want to think about what would happen if she went down them with her eyes closed. She hadn't woken once the whole time when he had saved her and that nights experience was his little secret.

As Edward raised his hand to run his finger along her collar bone he heard a whisper in the back of his mind, pulling his attention to it. As he listened in, he realized that it was Carlisle. He wanted to know if Charlie was any ware close. So Edward expanded his consciousness to look for Charlie's familiar voice. He soon found it and Edward zeroed in on it. Charlie was about a mile away from the house. Edward leaned in, gave Bella a kiss on the cheek and went down stairs to sit and wait for Charlie with Carlisle.

"What are we going to tell him Carlisle?" Edward said as he took a seat on the couch.

"I'll tell him exactly what I think. She has some symptoms of mild poisoning, nothing to worry about. They should probably go to the hospital and have her stomach pumped. Then we will let her rest for a few days, I'll come back and check on her. But just to be safe I think I'm going to check out Charlie to. He could be poisoned as well, just not showing symptoms yet. Are you satisfied?"

"Fairly." Edward turned his head and looked to the door. Charlie had arrived home.

Charlie was putting his jacket on the hook when he turned to find Edward and Dr. Cullen in his living room. He stood there for a moment, puzzled. Why would Dr. Cullen be at his house? Then Charlie turned his gaze to Edward, and an idea formed in his head: 'Oh God this _boy_ was going to ask me if he could marry Bella!'

Without saying a word, Charlie turned and went for the liquor cabinet in the kitchen and got out the Black Velvet he always kept stocked, he filled one of the plastic cups from the cupboard above him and took a long swig before turning to the Dr. and his son.

"Hello, Dr. Cullen. Do you want some…?" Charlie gestured toward the whiskey bottle.

"Oh, no I'm fine. You can call me Carlisle. If you wouldn't mind taking a seat, Edward and I would like to discuss something with you."

Charlie glanced over to Edward who seemed to be quietly laughing about something. But Charlie was soon distracted; the Dr. had asked him to call him by his first name. It was too much. Charlie glanced over at Edward again to see that he was again laughing at something hysterical, though he was covering it up pretty well, the corners of his mouth kept twitching.

What was he going to say when Edward asked? Edward and Bella both were barely out of high school, too young. He didn't want them to end up how he and Renee had, too young, in love, about to have a baby. Not that he wished those days had never happened, those were some of the best and worst days of his life and he wouldn't trade them for the world, the only thing was that he didn't know how Bella felt. Charlie took a deep breath and decided that he would say yes. When Bella was with Edward she was the happiest he had ever seen her. Charlie wanted to keep it that way. Yes, he would let Edward marry Bella.

Charlie glanced from the doctor to Edward, "So what did you want to talk to me about?" He was mostly talking to Edward, but he seemed to be lost in thought.

"Well, it's about Bella. She's upstairs taking a nap. We wanted to talk to you before we proceed with anything."

"Yeah, I understand."

"We don't want you to worry, we'll take the certain steps to get this done."

"Oh, of course. I wouldn't expect anything else."

"Edward was over to have breakfast with Bella, when she fainted. She later vomited. Edward called me over to check on her and we have some news…"

Charlie took a large gulp of his drink. 'Oh, my God! Bella's pregnant!'

"… she is showing some symptoms of…"

'Oh, God, here it comes!'

"…mild poisoning. I know what you're thinking…"

'Actually, I'm really glad you don't.' Charlie thought.

"…the word poisoning brings a lot of scary thoughts to mind. But its O.K. just take her to the hospital to have her stomach pumped. You might take a sample of the water in your house and send it to the University so that they can run some tests. I'll talk to you more on the way to the hospital. Edward, run up and go get Bella."

Once everyone was in the car they headed toward the hospital. Edward was in the backseat cradleing Bella, and Carlisle was driving and talking to Charlie in the passenger seat. Carlisle was going extra slow, considering that the police chief was with them.

Charlie turned in his seat to look at Edward. "I just want to say that I'm glad that you where there, Edward. You saved my little girls life. Thank you."

'It wouldn't be the first time.' Edward thought. Then his mind wandered to what Charlie had been thinking back at the house. Would he really let him marry Bella? Would Charlie let him if he new the monster that he was. The beast with an angels face?


	5. A decision to make

**I worked really hard on this one for you guys! As it turns out, _I_ have the stomach flu and have been sick all last night and this morning. I really hope you guys like this chapter!**

They all had made it to the hospital without mishap. Carlisle had come in and set things in motion for Bella to get the best care as fast as possible. There was just one incident when Bella got sick in the middle of the waiting room, but other than that things had gone well. Bella had had her stomach pumped and was going through a blood de-tox.

When I woke the next day I found Edward laying beside me, his arms around me holding me closer to him. The curtains on the windows were open, telling me that it was morning. Had I only been asleep for a few hours? I felt drained and very tired. When I was looking around the room I glanced down at my arm and flinched, I saw way to many needles in my arm. This was not good.

When I looked over toward Edward I found that he was looking at me. "I love you Bella."

"I love you to." Hearing his voice reminded me of something. While I had slept I had had a dream, it was beautiful. Edward and I had just gotten married, for some reason, unknown to me, I was a vampire. It was the best dream I had had in a long time.

"What are you thinking?" Edward asked looking up at me, his eyes kind.

"Well, I was thinking about you, and me." I tried to tell the truth without elaborating on every detail.

"What about you and me?" He smiled that adorable crooked smile, trying to get me distracted so I could spill my guts. I was determined that that would not happen.

"I was thinking that you laying here with me is pretty great, until my dad comes in." It wasn't lie, where was Charlie?

"That won't happen; I've been lying here with you all night. Your Dad had to leave about an hour after we got you here, he didn't want to, he tried to see if he could get out of it but he couldn't. Apparently there was a vicious animal attack down in Sappho."

"So you haven't left my side? What did the nurses say? What did Carlisle say?"

"Oh nothing, the nurses complained and my Dad ignored it. He told them that you can't control true love. They all kind of giggled, and have been really nice to me ever since."

"Oh." I had begun to nod off to sleep when there was a knock at the door. I opened my eyes to see Alice and Jasper standing in the door way, both holding huge bouquets of flowers. Alice came gracefully bounding over, gave me a kiss and handed the flowers to me. Jasper followed suit, kissing me one the cheek and handing me the flowers. They were a good couple; they were alike in many ways yet different, a completion of the other, kind of how Edward and I were.

Edward slipped off the bed and took the flowers to put them in a vase. Alice sat down on the bed and grabbed my hand. "Jasper, Edward could you go get Bella some chips or something? Anything would be better than hospital food." She looked at Jasper and winked.

"Sure. Come on." And with that, they both left the room.

Alice and I sat there laughing for a few moments, "I had a vision of you and Edward. It was so cute! Jasper wrote down exactly what I said", she pulled a napkin out of her purse. "I have never had a vision like this one. It was like a poem running through my head with pictures on a screen. Well, here it is: 'They were perfect, they were beautiful. They met in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of nothing, and kissed where everyone could see. No words. No before. No after. They kissed and it was perfect. It was beautiful. It was everything. It was nothing.' I saw you in a wedding dress, and Edward was waiting for you at the end of the isle. Oh, Bella! If only you could see how beautiful you looked!" she got up now and began dancing around the room. "There were flowers everywhere! Oh, Bella!" She ran and gave me a hug.

"So what does it mean? The wedding thing?"

"Well," she brushed back the hair that had fallen in my face. "It could mean that you and Edward are going to be married soon, or it could be metaphorical. You won't get married, but you'll be together, forever. You never know with these things. The future is never certain, every decision we make has two consequences. Say you have the choice between orange juice and apple juice. Let's say you pick orange juice and you spill it all over yourself, so you have to go back up stairs change your clothes, you're late for school and you missed that big math test you had been studying so hard for. But say you picked the apple juice, nothing goes wrong and you get an A+ on that test. With every desion you make, you decide your future. Do you understand what I'm getting at?"

"Yeah, don't get my hopes up." I said gloomily. She gave me a giant hug, trying to cheer me up.

"I wouldn't say that. You have very good chances." She started to tickle me, we both ended up in fits of laughter.

"Jasper, I want to talk to you about something." Edward said putting the dollar into the vending machine.

"Sure." Jasper said pressing E12 for the Doritos. "What do you need to talk to me about?"

Edward bent down and grabbed the chips from the bin and walked over to a bench. Jasper sat down beside him and looked at his brother. "Is it about Bella?"

Edward smiled at the name, "I thought that I was the only one who could read minds."

"You are. But I've known you for a while Edward, she's all you really think about, at least lately. So what's up?"

"Well, when Bella was upstairs sleeping, Carlisle was talking to Charlie about what was going on with her, I could hear what he was thinking.," Edward started to chuckle, "He thought Carlisle was there to say that he supported me when I was going to ask Charlie's blessing so I could ask Bella to marry me. And I heard him in his mind that he would be willing to let me marry her."

"And…? Is that a problem?" Jasper questioned.

"Well, no, and yes. Jasper, the way you love Alice is the way I love Bella. I have always been alone in this world, no one to be with. Carlisle has Esme, Emmett has Rosalie, you have Alice, and I have Bella. But Bella and I won't be able to be together like Carlisle and Esme. I don't think I would change Bella. I love how she's so clumsy, I don't know what I would do if I couldn't save her. She would be different, Bella but different. I don't think I could stand it." He gave a half hearted laugh, a hollow sound.

Jasper looked at Edward for a while before saying, "So, the question is, would you ask? Even if you knew that you would only love her for a short while? And keep in mind Edward, even if you didn't marry her, she would die. One way or another, death will take her, like it takes all mortals, _unless_ you changed her. But yes she would be different, but Bella all the same. It all comes down to whether or not you want to change her. It's your decision on what to do. Nobody can make it for you. Just know, that whatever you do, its ok with Alice and I. We'll always support you in whatever you do." Edwards eye brows furrowed as he thought about what Jasper had said. "Come on," Jasper said, patting Edward on the shoulder. "Bella must be hungry."

As they got up to leave Edward stopped, "Why did Alice want us out of the room so bad?"

"Can't say. I don't want Alice on my ass. Well, I do, just not an angry Alice." The boys started walking toward Bella's room laughing.

When they came into Bella's room all they could hear was laughter. The loudest of all was Bella. Edward had heard her laugh before, but not like this. It truly was a beautiful sound.

Once Alice and I noticed that the boys were in the room we simmered our laughter down to giggles. Edward was smiling at something, was he looking at me? I gave him a little wink and turned my attention to Jasper and Alice.

"So is Emmett and Rosalie coming?" I asked.

"Emmett and Esme are coming later." Jasper said with a smile as he handed me a bag of Doritos.

"Yeah, once Jasper and I come home Emmett and Esme are coming down. We don't want to leave Rosalie alone; she might set the house on fire." Alice said half joking.

"She really doesn't like me does she." I said tarring open the bag of chips.

"Its not that she doesn't like you as more of she despises you." Alice stated simply.

"And that makes things loads better!" I said moodily.

"Oh, it doesn't matter that much. You still have us, and we're the cooler people anyway. Tons more fun." Edward said kissing the top of my head.

And in a way, he was right. I felt comfortable around them, more than when I was around Rosalie. I always felt that I had to compete with her, which of course, I lost miserably. I think it's because Carlisle had made Rosalie for Edward that I felt so competitive with her. Why Edward had chosen me over her was beyond my comprehension. But she was happy with Emmett. Why she still felt the need to be in control of Edward was odd. Maybe it was a protective sister thing.

"I think we are going to head out Bella. We'll give you a few hours to sleep before Emmett an Esme come over." Jasper said as he gave me a hug. I had honestly not realized how tired I was until that moment.

"O.k." I said yawning.

Alice gave me a hug and grabbed her jacket. "We'll be back tomorrow to take you home."

And with that they were gone leaving me half asleep resting my head on Edwards shoulder. "That was a nice visit." I yawned.

"So… what did Alice have to say?" Edward said trying to sound nonchalant.

"I'm not telling. She'd be on my ass in an instant."

Edward laughed out loud. "Yeah, she would wouldn't she."

But he was too late. Bella had already fallen asleep, looking like an angel that had fallen from heaven and landed in his arms.


	6. Interrogations

**A special thanks to dIStUrBEd AvOCadO, missyoshigirl, missx1991, passionfornight, JustMeSilly, xoforeverox, bluemoon-175, newmoongurl,and Twilight Girl for the reviews! I honestly don't think I could have written so much so fast without your guys' support! Thank you!**

I was looking out the window of the Volvo, the trees and foliage flying past. I was in the passenger seat; Edward was driving, of course. Alice and Jasper were playing around in the back seat. It was nice being out of the hospital; I clenched and unclenched my bruised fist. They had had a field day with getting the needles out.

Edward reached across the seat, held my hand and looked at me smiling. I returned the gesture. Before I knew it we had come to a stop, the thing was, we weren't at my house.

"Why am I at your house?"

"While you were getting dressed, Charlie called my phone. He's going to be a few more days in Sappho. He doesn't feel that it's worth wasting the gas going back and forth. So he said for you to find a place to stay. And," he gestured toward the massive house. "Here it is."

"But, what about my clothes?" My thoughts were jumbled, the idea of staying in Edward's house for the _night_ was terrifying, and it also meant that Rosalie was there.

"We got them right here." He said holding up a duffel bag. "Bella really, do you think we would let you leave in the clothes you came here in? What would the neighbors say?" In a flash he was opening the passenger side door for me, bowing and taking my hand to lead me to the front door of his house.

Sure I had been at Edwards house several times, but just the thought of it being my home for the next few days was a bit daunting. Back in Phoenix my best friend Roxanne had told me that you can always guess what people are like by their houses, that the person matched the house in a way. Now, I realized that she was right. There was no doubt that the Cullen's were beautiful people, they fit perfectly with this beautiful house. I didn't belong in that world; it was all too good for me.

Edward leaned forward and kissed me. "This is my home. This is Carlisle and Esme, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, and Emmett's home. I want this to be _your_ home too." He said looking down at our intertwined hands.

"Alright, it's our home." I said. He looked up at me to see if I was fooling around. I had been dead serious, though I was insecure about it and that I didn't fit with the house, I was more than willing to say that this was my house as well. He smiled as he led me over the threshold and into the massive foyer, up the stairs to Edwards room.

On the stair way we met Esme. She greeted me with a hug, she was so kind. "Mom, I was wondering if Bella could sleep in my room."

He had said it so easily, like it was no big deal. Frankly my jaw dropped a little.

"Of course. But remember what we discussed. You have things to do tonight. It was very nice seeing you again honey." She said kissing me on the cheek. She left us standing there for a moment.

"I can't believe she just said _yes_." Disbelief coating my tone.

"They know we won't do anything. But they won't stop us either." He gave me a little wink and proceeded to walk up the stairs.

"What do you have to do tonight?" I asked trying to recover.

"Uh, ah. That's my little secret."

He held his bedroom door open for me and closed it tightly behind him. He then ran over to the black, leather couch and pulled out the hide-a-bed.

"You have a hide-a-bed? Isn't it kind of useless? I mean the whole not sleeping thing."

"Well yeah, but the couch was really comfortable." He went to a cabinet out in the hallway and came back with a blanket. "You and I will sleep here. I'll be gone for a little while tonight, but I'll be back before you know it. You probably will already be asleep by the time I leave."

"O.k." I said, still unsure of the situation.

"It's alright Bella. We are going to go to the supermarket to get you some food. The house came with a kitchen so you can cook. You will be fine." On the last sentence he put heavy enfaces on every word. Edward wrapped his arms around me in a tight protective hold, reassuring me.

"Don't worry Bella; Emmett has Rosalie on a short leash." He grinned.

Mike, Jessica and Angela were all in Harvest Foods getting some extra popcorn for Movie Night at Jessica's, when they caught a glimpse of someone familiar. The tall handsome figure of Edward Cullen standing behind Bella who was examining some of the fruit. Jessica couldn't believe it. She looked quickly around for any of the other Cullen's, when she noticed that they were alone, her mind went racing. They were shopping for groceries which only meant one thing…

Jessica started pulling on Angela's sweater sleeve to get her attention. "What do you want Jess?" Angela said fixing her sleeve.

"Look, over there. Do you see them?"

"See who?" Angela squinted, trying to see who Jessica was pointing out.

Mike had stopped now, looking at the two girls who were pointing at something.

"It's Bella with Edward. They're shopping for groceries _together_! Do you know what that means!" Jess said practically yelling now.

"Oh, now I see them, no I don't know what it means. Why does it matter?"

"Mike, do you see them?" Jessica asked.

Mike had tried to ignore the couple so far, but he couldn't avoid it now. He looked over to where the couple was standing. Edward was bent over and whispered something in Bella's ear. They both started to laugh, why did Bella have to be so pretty?

"Oh, that's what you guys are talking about? I didn't notice." Mike lied horribly. But Jessica seemed so absorbed in the couple; she didn't notice the sound of jealousy in his voice.

"Angela come with me." Jessica demanded, pulling on Angela's hand.

"Where?"

"We need to have a serious talk with Bella." And with that the two girls started over towards Bella and Edward, leaving Mike standing alone by the Deli.

I was comparing two peaches when Edward leaned forward again to whisper in my ear. "We have company." I was about to ask what exactly he was talking about when he nodded his head over to the Deli. There was Jessica, Mike and Angela. Jess was dragging Angela over toward Edward and I. We quickly turned away just in case they saw us looking.

"What do they want?" I asked.

"They want to ask you if we are living together and if we plan to get married."

"Oh. What should I say? Knowing Jess, whatever I say is going to get around town sooner or later." I said panicking a little.

"Tell them yes to the first. Why lie, you are living with us, and say what you want to the second." He said smiling. "Remember, I'll be listening."

"That is _so_ unfair." I said. Just then there was a tap on my shoulder, Jess quickly gave me a hug and smiled at me.

"Bella," Edward said, "I'm going to go get some of those Honey Combs you like so much." He leaned over and gave me quick kiss on the mouth. "Angela, Jessica." He nodded to each of the girls and walked to the cereal isle.

Once Edward was around the corner, Jessica pounced. "You two look so I love! It's so cute! Why are you shopping for groceries together? Are you living together?" It all came streaming out of Jessica's mouth at once and it was hard for me to separate the questions.

"One question at a time, Jess." I said calmly, trying not to look like I already knew what she was going to say.

"Are you and Edward Cullen _living_ together?" She said slowly.

"Yes." I said simply. I could see in her eyes that my answer had sparked another 10,000 questions.

"Are you going to get married to him?" She interrogated further.

I thought this over carefully. Knowing that Edward would be listening. "Someday, I hope. It's up to him really, I would say 'yes' in an instant." There, that was a good response; Edward could have fun with that answer.

"That's really great, Bella. I happy for you guys." Angela said giving me a hug.

"Thank you."

"We better go Jess. Mike's waiting for us."

"Alright. Bye, Bella!"

"Bye, guys." I said. Seeing Mike look over, I gave a special wave to him, which he returned with a smile.

Edward's arm was around my waist and he waved at Mike as well. Mike's face soon fell and he left, being dragged by Jessica the whole way.

"You seemed to have hade it through that alive." Edward said putting the Honey Combs in the cart, my favorite cereal.

"Yeah, barely." I said pushing the cart down to the frozen foods section.

"So, you would say yes?" Edward asked; he had been listening.

"Yes."

"Oh. That's very interesting. Very interesting." He gave me a smile and did not say a word as he helped me shop. He left me alone to think, probably because he needed some thinking time too.

Once I was done, he carried the groceries to the car, putting them in the trunk. I hopped in the passengers seat, watching the scenery go by, Edward's hand in mine.


	7. Old Memories

"Food." Cried The Beast, his thirst and apatite was growing by the day.

"Not yet, my sweet, not until the girl is ready. We need to lie low for a while. I saw the familiar face of Chief Swann today. I can't risk anyone who might have an inkling of who I am seeing me." Victoria turned her head toward The Beast and laughed. "Why am I talking to you? Ha! You can't understand anything besides the word 'food', you dumb brute."

The Beast tried for the hundredth time to break free from his bonds. "You want to fight me now?" Victoria couched down on all fours and gave a loud fierce growl, which The Beast retuned with much more power.

"Are you going to be ready to feast on this girl, little Isabella?" She laughed malevolently.

"No." Came The Beasts reply.

"No? No! You are going to gorge yourself upon her flesh; you will suck the blood from her veins! You are a pathetic animal that will feed on this girl!"

No was the reply.

"What makes this_ girl_ different from all of the other people you have killed?"

And with that, Victoria left the beast to think on old memories:

"And now presenting, Jeanne d'Albret Queen of Navarre and her escort, Isabella Di Mariano of Italy." The two women walked down the large staircase with ease. Chins held high, shoulders back; they put on quite a display of profound dignity as they entered the Grand Ballroom of the castle of Chamboard in France.

Queen Jeanne was the niece of the late King Francis I and was attending the funeral, representing her side of the family in Navarre, the small kingdom between France and Spain.

The Queen adjusted her ruffle, remembering when she heard the news:

'We hereby declare that King Francis I, High Monarch of the Kingdom of France has passed away. His successor, his blood son, King Henry II, Supreme ruler of France, has ordered you Jeanne d'Albret Queen of Navarre to wed Sir Antoine de Bourbon in holy matrimony in this the year of our Lord 1547.'

Isabella looked at her Queen, she could tell that she was uncomfortable, and she knew the reason why. They had just announced the entrance of Antoine de Bourbon, who her Queen was to marry. It was a sad day in France when the French court was no longer mourning the loss of their king or celebrating the crowning of another, but all the court was set to gossip about the arranged marriage, a sad day in France indeed.

While the queen and Isabella were looking up to the staircase, they announced the presence of two men, and one caught Isabella's eye. He had been announced as Alessandro Di Medici. The Medici's were a very powerful family in Italy.

This Alessandro man was inhumanly beautiful. He had raven hair, his skin was pale in comparison to the people around him but it accented to his exotic features. He had a narrow frame but muscle covered every inch of it. His chest was muscular but not over whelming. Alessandro was truly a sight to see. The man that was with him was as pale as Alessandro and had light brown hair. But before Isabella could avert her eyes from Alessandro's handsome face, their eyes met, and love blossomed. Isabella blushed and tore her gaze from his black eyes. Jeanne looked at her escort, and saw the blush that was there.

Jeanne and Isabella had become good friends over the past few days. Isabella had come all the way from Italy to travel with the queen, but she also came to show France that Italy supported the country in their time of need. Isabella was the daughter of a rather wealthy family in Italy. Both Jeanne and Isabella were in their twenties so they had many things in common. Though in the area of men, Isabella was inexperienced, Jeanne on the other hand, was married to The Duke of Cleaves for four years from the age of 12. The marriage was arranged by King Francis I, but he later had it annulled because the union no longer made profit for France. That was why Jeanne was so skeptical coming into this marriage.

"He's coming over here." Jeanne said to her escort.

Isabella raised her head in surprise, "Who?" she asked.

"The man you were looking at." She winked and pointed gracefully with her fan to the two men walking over.

Once the men got near, they both bowed deeply to Jeanne and greeted her as your majesty. She nodded in acknowledgement. Then Alessandro turned his attention toward Isabella, taking her hand and kissing it longer than was custom. His hand was cold and his cool lips against her skin had given her goose bumps.

"I am Alessandro Di Medici. This is my comrade Eduardo Dei Filipepi."

"Isabella Di Mariano." She said curtsying.

"It is very nice to meet you Signora Mariano." Alessandro smiled.

"You can call me Isabella." She said grinning.

The beast let go of his ancient thoughts. He was no longer Alessandro Di Medici. He was a monster.

**Authors note: Alessandro Di Medici, Isabella Di Mariano, and Eduardo Dei Filipepi never existed. Only in this story have I made them real. The events and the rest of the people in this chapter were alive. The Medici's were a real family in Italy. The Mariano's were not. If you want you can look up: Jeanne d'Albret, King Henry II, King Francis I, the Duke of Cleaves, and Antoine de Bourbon. I assure you that they were all real and were all intertwined throughout their lives in the days of the Renaissance in France. **


	8. Tears

The first night at the Cullen's wasn't so bad. Everyone was respectfully quiet while I had been sleeping. Edward had been right. I barely noticed that he had left in the middle of the night. He was by my side singing my song to me when I had fallen asleep and he was there when I woke up. I was about to ask what he had done, when I noticed his eyes where lighter than they had been. He had taken precautions, and as I soon saw, everyone had. Shouldn't that make me feel uncomfortable?

"So, what's on the agenda for today?" I asked Edward while I poured a bowl of cereal for myself.

"What ever you want, I have officially named this day 'Bella Day'. Has a nice ring to it don't you think? We do what you want, when you want."

I took a bite of cereal, thinking. What do I want to do? Well, there was one thing, but would Edward want to do it with me? I swallowed what I was chewing and raised my head to look at Edward. "I want to read. I want to read some of the books in Carlisle's library."

"As you wish." Edward said smiling, looking at her in a new light.

"What are you looking at?" I asked, getting uncomfortable by Edwards sudden intense scrutiny.

"Something extraordinary." Edward said, suddenly turning serious. "You're different Bella. I like that." He reached across the table and grasped my hand, helping me to my feet and led me to Carlisle's library.

Opening the door for me, Edward then sat me down in one of the more comfortable chairs. "There are over 2,000 books covering these walls. Which one do you want?"

My head was swimming. So many books, any of them mine to read. "You know how many books there are?" I asked trying to think about which one I wanted to read first.

"There are actually 2,183. But who's counting?" He shrugged, allowing a smile to raise the corners of his mouth. "I got board one night and counted them all, and arranged them in alphabetical order another night. That was of course," he stepped towards me and grabbed my hands. "Before I met you. Have you given any thought as to what you want to read first?"

I hadn't really thought about it, to preoccupied with looking at Edward's handsome figure. I panicked saying the first thing that came to mind. "A Midsummer Night's Dream, it's one of my favorites."

He grinned at me. In a flash he was holding the book out to me. "It's my favorite too."

I took the book with a thank you and curled up on the chair. I was soon whisked away into the world of Ancient Greece in the city of Athens. I was so enthralled that I hardly noticed Edward watching me read.

I laughed out loud as I read: 'All that I could ever read; could ever hear by tale or history, the course of true love never did run smooth.' Shakespeare didn't have a clue as to how true his words were.

I glanced over to Edward and found that he was chuckling. "What were you laughing at?" he asked, trying to compose himself.

I read the quote to him. His reaction was different from mine. Edward sat quietly, no doubt turning the words over in his head. I just left him to his thoughts and went back to reading.

Soon I was done reading A Midsummer Night's Dream, closing the book and setting it down on the small table beside me, I looked to Edward.

"Done already?"

"Yep."

Edward crossed the room to me, picking me up like I weighed nothing. I wrapped my arms around his strong neck, starring into his beautiful eyes. He kissed me tenderly, leaving my kiss stung mouth; Edward dragged his icy lips down to my neck, sending shockwaves up and down my body.

"Where to Princess Bella?" Edward said, his head resting on my shoulder.

I tried to keep my voice even, but failed miserably. "I'm pretty good were I am."

He laughed wholeheartedly now, carrying me to his bed room. Edward set me down so he could close the door. Slowly he turned around to face me. Bending down he kissed me passionately, slowly backing up until my back was to the wall. This was the Edward I liked. My heart was pounding wildly in my chest, to the point that it hurt. Edward put his hands on the wall on either side of my head, and he stood there starring at me. I was rather flustered, and was breathing hard; I wanted to know what he was thinking. What was going through that head as he stood there; expressionless?

"What are you thinking at this very moment?" I asked.

"I want to kiss you."

Well, that was simple enough I thought. "Then what are you waiting for?" I said leaning in and kissing him, holding nothing back, but he broke away from my lips.

"Bella, Please! I'm afraid of what will happen if I keep kissing you."

I reached out for his hand but he quickly pulled it away. "I was afraid too, but I've been thinking about it for a while and I'm okay with it."

"I'm not talking about that Bella. I'm afraid of kissing you, to let my emotions get the better of me and losing control. I don't want to hurt you Bella; that alone would kill me. I have gotten used to your sent, but at times it is still overwhelming. If I didn't pay attention for one second, I could be on top of you sucking your blood."

I felt hurt and abandoned. "Why are you saying this?"

"Because you need to know the monster I am!" His voice raising.

The tears ran down my face, I didn't even bother to wipe them away. "You're not a monster." I whispered, my voice barely audible, but I knew that he could hear me.

Edward roared with rage, the sound shaking the windows. I didn't react to the sound; I made myself not cringe out of fear and surprise. "What are you trying to say then?" I asked staring down at the floor.

"Do you want to know what I'm saying Bella? I'm saying that we are through. I'm ending it before I hurt you. I should have listened to Rosalie in the first place."

"You're doing this all because of her! You said that you _loved_ me! Was that a lie? Was it _all_ a lie? Not even a month ago, I was willing to _sacrifice myself for you_!" I screamed back.

The door burst open to reveal Emmett and Alice. "What's going on?" Alice yelled.

I ignored whatever else was said, I grabbed my things and put them in the duffel bag. "I need a ride home!"

"Wait a moment." Emmett said blocking my way out. Turning around I watched Alice zero in on Edward.

"What is going on Edward? What's wrong? Talk to me damn it!" Alice yelled at a pacing Edward.

He suddenly stopped, his face inches away from Alice's. "Stay _out_ of it Alice! Emmett, take Bella home!"

"No, not until you tell us what's going on." Alice said confidently.

"Emmett, do it _NOW_!" Edward roared.

Emmett leaned forward and whispered into my ear. "Let go before this gets even worse." I nodded my head; he gently grabbed my arm and led me down the hallway.

Right as we turned to leave Edward's room we saw Rosalie leaning against the wall, watching the whole scene with a faint smile on her lips, a slight shaking of her shoulders indicated that she was laughing. Was she laughing at the spectacle in Edward's room, or the tears streaming down my face? Emmett switched sides with me as we walked by where she was standing.

All the way down the stairs we could hear the two yelling, then a crashing noise followed by more yelling and screaming. The tears were flowing heavily now, the dam holding them back broken. Outside, we met Esme and Jasper.

"What's going on?" Esme said franticly, seeing my tears.

"Edward…" Emmett stated.

She ran to the house, leaving Jasper to try and calm me down. He looked at Emmett. "He told me just the other day… didn't he talk to you?"

"Yeah, but he never said anything about this. I think you need to get up there. Edward is pissed."

Emmett began to lead me to the Volvo. Opening the passenger door for me, in a flash he was next to me in the driver's seat, and we were off. Once at my house, Emmett stood with me until I got the door open, taking longer as my vision was blurred by the tears.

He came and sat with me at the dinner table, trying to comfort me.

"Thank you for driving me home Emmett." I said taking a deep shaking breath.

"It was no problem, squirt. I'm sorry. I don't know what has gotten into Edward. Once Jasper is done calming Alice and Edward down I'll send him over. Maybe Alice could spend the night with you so you won't be alone." He smiled at me, trying to cheer me up.

"That would be nice."

He gave me an awkward hug and left, leaving me to wallow in my sadness.


	9. A Time To Strike

"Isabella, may I have this dance?" Alessandro said bowing and extending his hand toward Isabella.

She looked at Jeanne, when she nodded; Isabella took Alessandro's chilled hand. "I would love to."

They twirled here and there, far enough apart to keep people from talking, but close enough to fulfill each others desires. "You are truly beautiful, Isabella." Alessandro whispered.

Isabella blushed, "Alessandro, surely you lie. My Lady is far fairer than I."

Queen Jeanne was a beautiful woman. With long flowing, dirty blonde hair thrown up in ringlets, surrounded by the crown of Navarre. She had fair skin, a round face with a strong jaw, and strong, wise eyes, though she was still a youth of twenty. She was tall and slim, truly a beauty.

"No, my Isabella. Her Majesty is fair, but she pales in comparison to you, fair lady."

"Alessandro, I beg thee, control yourself. You make me blush."

"Which makes my lady all the more beautiful, the blush or the fairness of her pallor?"

Though Isabella thought herself plain, it was not true. She had a strong figure, fairly slim with perfectly proportioned hips. She had hair the color of onyx naturally wavy, cascading down her back as was the fashion in Italy. A comb of diamonds and rubies held the hair on the left side of her head from falling into her face. She had beautiful honey colored eyes hidden by long lashes. And she had full red lips.

The song ended and the pair separated with a curtsy and a bow. Alessandro extended his arm to Isabella, leading her over to the queen and her fiancé.

"Till next we meet." As Alessandro held her hand to kiss it, as was custom, she felt a piece of paper being slipped up her sleeve.

"Till next we meet." Isabella whispered.

Making sure no one saw, she unfolded the small note behind her fan. She quickly read what was written there:

Isabella,

Meet me in the court yard by the fountain this night at the stroke of twelve.

Till next I see thee,

Alessandro Di Medici

Later that night, Isabella awoke to go and meet Alessandro. Since she was wearing just her corset, chiffon and hose she grabbed her silk over coat to protect her from the chill. She crept down the silent halls, always on the lookout for the guards of Chambord. It had been a couple of days since she had first met Alessandro. Since then, she had had many breakfasts and teas with Alessandro and his friend Eduardo, always monitored of course. This was their first meeting without supervision. Isabella's heart raced as excitement surged through her. What did Alessandro have to tell her? She wished with all of her being that he would propose. She ran faster as she saw his tall form standing by the fountains waters.

"Alessandro? Is that you dear heart?" Isabella whispered.

The Beast shook his head to clear his sleepy mind. He had heard Victoria come into the area where he was kept.

"Come, my pet. Our little Isabella is all alone. We need to move our operations closer. The time is coming for us to strike."


	10. Another Small Town

**Authors Note: I would like to dedicate this chapter to my niece, Ashlyn. I wish I could hold you honey!**

You know how people when their depressed or angry have these weird little habits? Some people over eat, some people don't eat and others clean. I was definitely the cleaning type, I thought as I scrubbed at a shoe mark on the kitchen floor that just wasn't coming off.

I was dunking the sponge back into the bucket of water when my other hand slipped, tipping the bucket over onto the floor. Soaked, I sat there crying as the five gallons of water spilled around me. As if on queue, Jasper, accompanied by Alice, came in. Both of them were by my side in an instant.

"Are you ok, Bella?" Alice asked, giving me a rather suffocating hug.

"I…I…I spilled the water! The shoe mark won't come off the floor, and there is a piece of pizza behind the stove that Charlie has left there for God knows how long, that I will never get out! And to make things worse, I am in love with a man that just dumped me because he loves me! On top of that his sister told him to do it! It's all a little confusing. But no, Alice. I'm fine. Just tiptoeing through the freaking' tulips! Well, la de freaking' da people! Of course I'm not alright!" I said, letting out all of my bent up anger. "And Alice?"

"Yeah?"

"I can't breathe."

"Oh, right. Sorry." She said letting go.

Jasper stepped forward, and grabbed both of my hands. A sudden sense of tranquility came over me; I had the sudden urge to sleep. "Is there anything you need us to do? I can get that piece of pizza out if you want me to." He said with a smile. "We can help you with whatever you need us to do." With his thumb he wiped away the new tears that were coating my cheeks.

"It would mean a lot to me if you just cleaned the water from the floor with me." I said sleepily.

"We'll do that while you go up and sleep." Alice said, getting me a glass of water.

"Fine." I said, to tired to protest.

**Mean while…**

Unlike Bella, who cleaned when she got upset, Edward drove. He sped his way down to the western side of the banks taking the ferry, crossing the peninsula to the eastern side; he wound his way to the other side of the state. Edward stopped and got a hotel in the small town of Kettle Falls. The town was quaint, kids riding their bikes back and forth to the only store in town, Harvest Foods, and going to Jim's Video movie rental.

The hotel was the Kettle Falls Inn, a small one story complex that took up half of the city plaza; the other half of the plaza had buildings that were dusty and vacant, with just one coffee shop at the other end.

Wow, Edward thought. This town was smaller than Forks. It was a cloudy day, so Edward went for a walk around town. He past by the Happy Dell park and saw the cheerleaders doing routines on the lawn. He smiled, 'Bella had no coordination at all, she wouldn't come out of one of those routine's alive' Then he hung his head, he needed to stop thinking about her. It was over and done with. He vowed to never love someone again, and live a life of a hermit in Michigan.

Once he got to the grave yard, he stopped to pay homage to the lost; it was only out of the deepest respect, because he knew that he would never join their numbers, though he was already dead. Not just the fact that he was dead and had no pulse, but he didn't feel alive now that the one thing in his life that had kept him going, he had pushed away. He shouldn't have listened to Rosalie while they had been hunting, but he new that she was right.

Edward stopped in front of a head stone that had caught his eye. It had a drawing of Jesus Christ holding a baby. There was a garden stake with two flower baskets hanging from the hooks. The baskets were filled with brightly colored flowers and there were some vases and an angel statue of a child. The name read: Ashlyn Dayliee James, Edward did the math; the small girl buried here was just nine months and twenty-one days old when she had passed away. He felt guilty, that he should live a life literally fueled by blood and this infant die so young.

He turned as he felt a tap on his shoulder. A young woman, a few years younger than himself stood there smiling. She had long light brown hair that went past her shoulder blades, curious emerald eyes, and olive toned skin. Edward could tell that she was definitely native. She had a beautiful smile. She was a fit young woman, pear shaped; she wore blue jeans, with a white South Pole shirt.

"Hi." She said simply.

"Hello?"

"I'm Shelbie." She said, extending her hand.

Edward took it, "Edward Cullen."

"Hello, Edward. I was just wondering, what you were doing here?"

Edward furrowed his brows; there was no way of saying it without sounding weird. "I'm just looking. It sounds weird, I know, but many of these people don't get visitors any more. Even if I don't know them, it's still good to show respect."

"Oh," she said looking at the head stone, then back to Edward. "So that's why you stopped at my niece's grave?"

"I am so sorry! I'll leave now." As he turned to leave, he heard her laugh.

"It's alright, its flattering, to know that someone with no relation to us cares." She knelt down and cleaned the grass off of the stone. She then pressed her fingers to her lips and laid them on the indented surface of the name Ashlyn. "We picked this picture because it looks just like her."

"Oh, I see." Edward said awkwardly. He wanted to turn and leave, but couldn't. Though death was a hard thing and mourning long and tedious, he found it fascinating. He had never been to a funeral. Although he had lost his parents he had been to sick to see their funerals, and he didn't think of them as his parents anymore. Sure they brought him into the world, but he couldn't even remember their names.

Carlisle and Esme were his parents now. Carlisle was the one that had given him new life, even though he didn't know whether to thank him or not. Living this live was like being in hell, but even he had to admit, his times with Bella had been heaven. 'Oh, Bella, why do I miss you so much?' Edward thought, looking at Shelbie, 'And why does this girl remind me of you?'

"Are you ready?" Shelbie asked interrupting Edwards train of thought.

"Ready for what?"

"To leave. I didn't think you would want to stand in the graveyard all day. Your new around here aren't you? I knew you were I'd never seen you before. Do you want to come with me and pick my friend up? We could show you around, that will take about ten minutes, and then you can be on your way."

"Ok. I'll go with you. How did you know I wasn't from here?"

Shelbie gave him the 'are you blind' look. "Have you seen where you are? You can go down every street in Kettle Falls starting here, and finish in thirty minuets. Believe me, my friends and I have tried. We even stopped a couple times to pick people up." She started walking down the street where Edward had come from. "In this town, every one knows everybody else's business. You can't get away with _anything_! I've lived here my whole life, known most of my classmates since preschool. It's nice, sometimes."

They started to walk down another street, Shelbie pointed to a two story house with green shutters. "That's my brother's house." they walked a little bit further, "And that's Mrs. Berg's house. She was my kindergarten and first grade teacher."

Edward and Shelbie soon came up to Happy Dell Park; she started walking toward the group of cheerleaders that had just finished practice. She came close to Edward's side and whispered into his ear. "My friend Elizabeth is a cheerleader. But she's fine. So are Destiny, Jessica and Stephanie. It's the others that we need to steer clear of."

"Hey, Shelbie!" One said waving causing everyone to turn there attention to the pair approaching. Jaws dropped as soon aseveryone saw Edward.

"Hi, Destiny! What's going on?" Shelbie said casually as the group came closer.

"Nothing. Who's this?" Destiny said pointing to Edward.

"This is my friend Edward, Edward this is Destiny, Jessica, Stephanie, Caroline, Elizabeth, and Jess Shimals." Shelbie said pointing out every person.

Edward nodded his head to every person, "Hello." Edward didn't know, but that one word had sent the girls' hearts to thundering madly in their chests. But, he did hear their thoughts. Some of those girls were really rude. In their minds they started thinking things that would surely make Shelbie cry. But none of them where as bad as the thoughts pouring out of Jess Shimals.

"Wow, Shelbie, I didn't know that a face like that could pick up a guy like this." She said in a mock friendly tone. "He must have been hungry, you know what they say: ugly fat chicks always know the quickest way to a meal." Jess said glaring.

"Come on Liz, let's go." Shelbie said, her head held high, but Edward could see the hurt in her eyes.

"I'll help you with your bag Elizabeth." Edward said grabbing the bag.

"Thanks." She said, grateful that she didn't have to carry her cheer bag across town.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow Shelb." Said one of the cheerleaders, who Edward remembered as Jessica, giving Shelbie a hug.

"Ok. Talk to you guys later."

"It was very nice meeting you girls." Edward said to Jessica, Destiny and Stephanie.

While they were walking away from the cheerleaders, Shelbie could feel their eyes stabbing daggers into her back. Suddenly Edward put his arm around her. Shelbie smiled. She knew exactly what he was doing, making Jess mad as hell.

"Nice touch with the arm thing." Shelbie said stepping out of Edwards hold.

"Yeah, that was good. Did you see the look on Jess' face! Oh, I wish I had a camera!" Elizabeth smiled. She was glad about anything that went wrong with Jess. Elizabeth was always a target to Jess' temper tantrums, not to mention that they all hated Shelbie.

Elizabeth was a very pretty girl with a kind round face and rosy cheeks. She had brown eyes that were pools into her true nature, caring. Her hair was thrown up into a sloppy bun to keep her dark brown locks out of her face during practice. She still wore her practice shorts and shirt.

They made it back to Edward's hotel room where Shelbie made a call to her friend Coby to come and pick them up. "Coby gets off of work in a half an hour. He's gonna swing by here and take us home."

"So, Edward, where do you live?" Elizabeth asked, curious.

"Down in the Olympic Peninsula. In a small town called Forks."

"Oh, wow. You traveled a long way. Are you going to visit family here or…?"

"No, just passing through on my way to Michigan."

"That's pretty cool. I have family on the reservation down in Pinconning. It's a really nice place." Shelbie added.

The half an hour passed by so fast that the girls nearly missed it, before going out the door Shelbie gave Edward a kiss and a hug. "Good luck Edward Cullen, have fun in Michigan. Here is my number," Shelbie said writing it down on some of the hotel stationary. "If you are ever in Kettle again, look me up."

"Good bye Shelbie, It was very nice meeting you."

Edward lay down on top of the bed all night laughing and crying silently, thinking about Bella and all the times they hadshared. The memory that brought tears to his eyes was when he had found Bella in that mirror room. Lying face down in a pool of her own blood. He couldn't get the image out of his mind. The moment when he thought he had lost her.

The morning came and as Edward was putting his suitcase in the car his cell phone rang. "Hello?" He said opening the door to the car and getting inside. What he heard was so shocking, so terrifying, he dropped the phone into his lap and sped off for home.

**Authors note: I just thought that it would be fun for Edward to come to my home town. supercheergirl and I are featured in this chapter. Along with some of our friends (and enemies). I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this. If you have any questions what so ever don't be afraid to ask. I will happily answer them. Can you guess which one is me? **


	11. Isabella's Fate

"Alessandro, is that you dear heart?" Isabella whispered.

The form by the fountain turned to face Isabella, she sighed with relief as soon as she saw that it was indeed Alessandro. He stood there smiling at her for a while. But, Isabella noticed something different about him. His glorious smile didn't touch his eyes…his eyes. Was it just the light of the full moon and the torches lining the gardens stony walls, or were Alessandro's eyes red?

Alessandro stepped forward, grabbed Isabella's hand and pulled her towards him. He slowly began to trace the outline of Isabella's lips with his cold thumb. He leaned his head forward, hesitated for a moment, and then leaned until his lips touched hers. Alessandro kissed her slowly at first, testing the waters to se how she would react, then their kiss grew into a passionate frenzy.

"Isabella, I have to tell you something." Alessandro said, breaking free from his lover's soft lips.

"How now my love?"

"It is not just the coming winter's chill that makes my skin so cold. Isabella, I am a monster. I am going to fly this place, tonight. I would ask that you not follow me."

Isabella broke away from Alessandro's embrace. "What are you saying? You take flight because of me? Alessandro, I think you not a monster, but a man that I love dearly. If you are to fly, let me fly with you, love." Isabella said pleading.

"No! No, my darling. I would surely kill you if you came. Isabella you must under stand. What I am about to say, you must swear to me that you will never repeat." Alessandro said, putting his hands on Isabella's shoulders.

"I will not speak a word of it ere I go."

"I am a…." Alessandro stopped short, for he was interrupted as someone came into the pathway where the lovers stood.

"Well, well, Alessandro. I never thought a man like you would break his knees for a mortal woman. I guess I should have seen it coming." Eduardo said stepping out from the shadows where he stood. His eyes were different as well, red like Alessandro's.

"Eduardo. You know I love Isabella, of course I would tell her. Above all it is my affair. I ask that you stay out of this." Alessandro said his voice growing as cold as the winter snow.

"Come now Alessandro. Why don't you let me tell the tale?"

Isabella rubbed her eyes. First Eduardo was about ten yards away form Alessandro and herself, then as fast as anything Isabella had ever seen, he was face to face with Alessandro. How was that humanly possible? Unless…

Alessandro stepped in front of Isabella. He was willing to kill his best friend to save her. "Go ahead Eduardo. For you know it as well as I."

"Alessandro Di Medici was born in 1125, and _murdered_ in 1148… by yours truly. At a ripe young age of 23, I made him perfect; I made him into a vampire. He is of the walking dead. He is the life of your nightmares. The ledged, the fairy tale in the back of your mind. The monster under your bed. For we are the superior race, are we not Alessandro? Deadly, and beautiful, irresistible to our prey, strong, fast. You would never be able to escape. Isn't that right, Alessandro?" Eduardo said with a wicked smile spreading across his face.

Isabella backed away from both of the men. Vampires? Not Alessandro. And yet, it made perfect sense. He was graceful, beautiful. She backed away further until she was stopped by two strong arms around her waist, holding her arms in place with fierce power. All Isabella could see was the astonished expression of the face of Alessandro. And as she watched his expression soon grew to anger.

"Let her go Eduardo!"

As quick as lightning Isabella was face to face with her lover. The movement was so sudden that her head snapped back against Eduardo's firm chest. A hand came to her forehead kept her head in place. Another hand brushed back her raven locks to revel her porcelain white neck. She tried to brake free, but the hand that held her was incredibly strong.

"Come now Alessandro, don't tell me you can't hear her heart beating. Smell the young blood running through her veins," Eduardo began to run his nose up and down Isabella's jaw and neck. "Don't tell me that you can't smell her fear."

Alessandro looked transfixed, unseeing. Then he spoke with such vengeance that would stir the heart of any poet. "Let her go Eduardo, for I will not hold back when I smite thee."

"Smite my _O_, Alessandro!" Eduardo said in mock horror. "I think I shall feast upon her flesh, but what of that? You, Alessandro, think not so. But I will win. I will always win, just like the thirst will _always_ win." He said calmly. "If I stick this girl with my dagger, drawing the slightest amount of blood, you will feast with me. How long has it been since your last meal Alessandro? Two, three weeks? Your thirsty, and will spill your beloved's blood upon the green. You _will_ drink with me."

"You are wrong Eduardo. I can resist, I _will_ resist. You will pay for your treachery before the night is out. I will cast thee into the belly of the flames of Hell." But Alessandro was too late. Eduardo had dagger drawn and cut a slit in Isabella's throat. She bit her lip as the pain hit her, perhaps it would have been better if she had screamed.

Alessandro stepped forward, unable to resist the sent of the blood filling the air. Eduardo was having trouble, trying not to feed. He needed to draw Alessandro closer.

"Come, dear friend. Come and drink with me Alessandro." Eduardo said, dragging the struggling Isabella into the shadows like a rag doll, with Alessandro following. Alessandro's mind was not his own, it had given way to instincts, the need to survive. The monster was raging through him, coursing through his mind. He no longer could tell friend from foe. It was only when his beloved's screams came tarring through his mind and the taste of blood on his tongue that he saw with new eyes what was taking place.

Alessandro looked on with horror as he saw Eduardo bent over his loves neck, sucking her life away. He watched in shock as he saw the lights in Isabella's honey eyes flicker like a torch flame. She was barely alive, hardly dead. He got to his feet and ripped Eduardo off of her. Eduardo hardly had time to react as Alessandro's foot met him in the face, sending him flying. Alessandro continued that way to tear Eduardo apart. Limb by limb, Alessandro bit and kicked and scratch until he was covered in the gore that was left of Eduardo. Alessandro grabbed a torch from the stone wall and set aflame Eduardo's body.

He then ran over to Isabella's prone figure upon the dewy grass. She was still alive, but barely. "Isabella, my love, I will never have a love as I found in thee. Your smile, a beckon to my lost soul, your eyes, pools made of nectar. Come now love, your cheeks grow pale. How do the roses there fade so fast? Stay with me love." Alessandro leaned forward to whisper into Isabella's ear. "I will be lost without you. You cannot leave me dear heart."

Alessandro felt his love stir, but for a moment. And heard her whisper softly with the last of her breath, _I love you_. He broke out into tearless sobs of loss until the morning light spread over the horizon. He gave his love a parting kiss, and then ran into the dark wood about a mile off. There he called into the depths and made a pact with the devil. To do his bidding for a thousand life times, and then be reunited with Isabella, his angel in heaven. Or so the devil had promised, but his promises are lies and are empty.

The devil had changed him, made him into The Beast. Not a man, not a monster, not vampire not werewolf. He was a kind of his own, made to walk alone in the world. He was capable of transforming into human form and was capable of human speech, but he was an animal at heart. The Beasts time on the earth had been, as of this year 881 years "alive", he was a true blemish upon the earth.

The Beast felt a cold tear run down his snout. He sat in the darkness, waiting for Isabella to come out of a house she had just entered. They had moved down a ways to the town of Forks. The house was fairly nice; it had a shiny Volvo parked out front. Victoria had gone up into one of the second story windows. Seeing a figure open the window again, The Beast saw Victoria climb back out. She was by his side in a matter of seconds.

"I did it my pet. Isabella drank the poison that I slipped into her water, right under the noses of her protectors. All we have to do now is wait until they take her to the hospital, once there we will take her back to the clearing and the ceremony will begin."


	12. Thru The Window

Jasper and Alice were almost done cleaning the kitchen; Jasper threw the old piece of pizza in the trash and was in the process of putting the stove back in place when he heard a loud thud. He turned toward Alice; she had heard it as well. Jasper walked out into the hallway just in time to see Bella fall the rest of the way down the stairs.

"Whoa! Bella, are you ok?" Jasper said, catching her before she hit the last step. "Alice!" he called, carrying Bella to the couch. Jasper noticed that Bella was trembling uncontrollably and her eyelids were fluttering.

Alice was in the room, beside Jasper in the blink of an eye. "Jasper, what happened? Bella? Bella, can you hear me, sweetie?" said Alice, gently slapping Bella's face.

"Make it stop." Bella moaned, coming to, a little.

"Make what stop, honey?" Alice asked a look of concern on her face, as she saw the beads of sweat begin to form on Bella's forehead and nose. She had a fever.

Bella grabbed her own arm. "Make it stop! Please, it hurts." It was then that the vampires noticed that Bella's body seemed to be twitching.

Bella began to close her eyes when Jasper shook her awake. "Bella, did you take something that you shouldn't have? Any pills? If you did, you need to tell me what, and how much you took. What did you eat or drink today?"

"The water." She mumbled in reply.

"The water? What water Bella?" Jasper repeated.

"The glass of water that I gave her." Alice said to Jasper. "Bella, did you drink the water I gave you?" But Bella's eyes were closed. "Bella, sweetie. Wake up honey."

Bella's breath began to come in shallow, raspy, shaking gasps. It was like she was going into shock, her body giving up and shutting down, wasting all of its energy reserves to keep her heart beating.

"Jasper, I'll start the car, you carry her and be with her in the back seat. I'll call Carlisle on the way there." Grabbing her keys she started for the door.

"Wait, what about Edward? Hell, who are we kidding? We don't even know where he is. What are we going to tell him?" Jasper asked.

Alice turned around, her anger clearly painted on her pale face. "We don't need to tell him anything. If Bella did this to herself….there is no need for him to worry. And like he said before he left town, he didn't want anything to do with her anymore." Alice said, lips pressed in a thin line. "Get her in the car; I'll grab the glass of water in her room."

Once on the way to the hospital, Jasper periodically began to shake Bella awake, but she kept drifting back into unconsciousness.

"Alice, she just won't stay awake."

"Keep shaking her, no matter what; don't let her go to sleep." Alice started to bite her bottom lip.

"Wake up Bella." Jasper ordered again.

Bella's eyes opened for a brief moment, but they rolled into the back of her head. Her body began to shake, feverishly convulsing, kicking this and that, her head thrashing from side to side, up and down.

"Alice! Drive faster! I think Bella is having a seizure! Drive damn it!" Jasper yelled as Alice sped up to 120.

They came to the hospital in no time; Carlisle was there to meet them. Emmett had come along as well. Alice gasped and covered her mouth with her hand as they put a tube down Bella's throat. A nurse jumped up on the gurney, straddled Bella and began CPR as Carlisle pushed it as fast as he could without making people suspicious, down to the ER.

Jasper put his arms around Alice in a defensive hold while Emmett held her hand. "Do you think it's ok to call Edward now?" Jasper whispered into her ear.

Alice took a deep shaking breath and shook her head. "No. He wanted to be out of her life. Simple as that. No one calls him; he doesn't need to know, hell, he doesn't even want to know. Where ever he is right now, he's with a girl. I saw him and her walking out of a park together, his arm was around her. Edward doesn't make gestures like that, not with strangers. He has obviously moved on, Edward doesn't deserve to know." And with that she broke free of the boys' grasp and walked away.

It was a couple of hours before anyone was allowed to see Bella. It was twilight outside. Carlisle pulled Jasper and Alice aside to ask what had happened. Emmett, not wanting to see Bella all by himself, joined them.

"We don't know what happened up stairs. All we know is that she fell down the stairs, I caught her. I set her down on the couch she was trembling like crazy, and then her muscles started to twitch. She had a fever; it sounded like she was having trouble breathing…" Jasper rattled off, he was a little overwhelmed by the whole ordeal. He pulled himself together as soon as Alice began to sob next to him.

Jasper pulled her head close to his shoulder, rubbing her back comfortingly. He looked at Carlisle. "What did the tests say about the water she drank?"

"They weren't good; we found high traces of Zinc Phosphide in her urine and bloodstream."

"In English, please?" Jasper asked.

"Zinc Phosphide is a common ingredient in…in rat poisoning."

"Oh, my God." Emmett's shock was apparent.

Alice's body began to shake harder as she buried her face in Jasper's shoulder, to hide the sobs that came harder. Not a tear was shed. "I should have seen this coming!" she said, her voice rather muffled.

"We're done here Jasper. You guys can visit her now." Carlisle kissed Alice on the cheek and went to see his other patents.

Bella was sleeping as they all shuffled in. She was hooked up to a ventilator, to help her breathe, though Carlisle was sure that she could breath on her own, he didn't want a relapse of what happened in the house.

The boys stood there awkwardly as they watched Alice kneel beside Bella's still form. She reached out and held Bella's hand, her monitor jumped a bit, then went back to normal. She acknowledged the touch at least, Alice thought. Although Bella's subconscious probably thought that it was the cool touch of Edwards fingertips instead of Alice's.

"Just call when you need us." Emmett said, putting his hand on Alice's shoulder before exiting the room.

"Yeah, you just say the word and I'll be right beside you." Jasper kissed the top of her head and left to follow Emmett.

"I am so sorry Bella." Alice whispered. "I should have seen this coming. Edward loves you, you know that right? He was just upset and confused. We talked to him, yelled at Rosalie, but he still left. Bella, I don't know…I don't know what to do. I just don't know-"

But Alice was interrupted as the window on the other side of the room shattered, revealing the wild haired Victoria. Once the females locked eyes on the other, the fight began. But Alice was on the losing end. Being caught by surprise Alice was stunned for a moment, which was when Victoria decided to strike. Victoria's body hit Alice's so hard that it sounded like two boulders clashing together, the impact sent Alice sprawling to the floor. Victoria stood, ready to strike again, when Alice tripped her, grabbing a handful of that wild red hair and smashed her head to the floor. Victoria, acting like nothing had happened grabbed Alice's head and slammed it into her knee, then to the corner of the side table, rendering Alice unconscious.

Victoria acted quickly, pulling all of the IVs and needles out of Bella's arms, ripping the breathing tube out of Bella's throat, making her cough and gag uncontrollably. Slinging Bella over her shoulder, Victoria fled once more through the window, just as one of the other vampire kids came into the room.

Jasper was the first to enter, rushing towards the window, trying to catch a glimpse of who had just jumped, then to Alice. He began to shake her, begging her to wake up. He was followed by Carlisle and Emmett. Upon noticeing Alice's condition Carlisle ran over and put a smelling salt under her nose. Emmett was the first one to realize that Bella was not present.

"Carlisle, she's gone!"

Alice's eyes shot open and she began to scramble to the bed, where Bella was no longer laying.

"Victoria…she…Bella's gone." Alice muttered as she scrambled around.


	13. So The Chase Begins

Although Bella was unconscious, her mind still responded to touch and sound. Her mind was drifting this way and that, in and out of thoughts and memories. From her and Edward's first kiss, to her eighth birthday party where she got a bike. That turned out to be a fatal decision on Renee's part. Bella hadn't gone two feet when she crashed into the phone pole. But a verse from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's dream was repeating itself over an over again in her head:

_'For aught that I could ever read,_

_Could ever hear by tale or history,_

_The course of true love never did run smooth._

_But either it was different in blood,_

_Or else misgraffed in respect of years,_

_Or else it stood upon the choice of friends,_

_Or, if there were a sympathy in choice,_

_War, death, sickness did lay siege to it,_

_Making it momentary as a sound,_

_Swift as a shadow, short as any dream,_

_Brief as the lightning in the collied night,_

_That, in a spleen, unfolds both heaven and earth,_

_And, ere a man hath power to say "Behold!"_

_The jaws of darkness do devour it up._

_So quick bright things come to confusion.'_

Damn, I should have listened, Bella thought. Love was always doomed. Just like Edward and I, she thought.

"Victoria…she…Bella's gone." Alice muttered as she scrambled around.

"Alice sit." Jasper said, forcing her to take a seat. "I'm going to call Edward, whether you like it or not."

"Fine." Alice said, "Let me do it."

She got to her feet and took out her cell phone, dialing Edward's number.

"Hello?" Edward said in a sincere tone.

"Edward? Edward, it's about Bella. Jasper and I brought her to the hospital because she was sick, she was poisoned. She was kidnapped by Victoria. Edward I did all that I cou- Edward? Edward are you there? Hello? Hello?" But all she heard was silence, Edward had hung up. Either he was serious when he had said that he didn't want to be apart of Bella's life, or he was on his way home.

When Alice entered the room once more, Emmett and Jasper where fighting for her attention.

"What did he say? Is he coming?" Emmett said.

"Yeah, is he coming? Where was he anyway?" Jasper said grabbing Alice's hand.

"He hung up on me." she said, pushing past the guys and sitting in a chair looking at Bella's bed.

"Oh." Both boys said in unisen.

"I'm going to go and find Bella." Alice said to the void.

"Alice, not by yourself. If Victoria was hanging out with James for all those years, do you honestly think that she wouldn't pick up a few of his tricks? She will lead you this way and that, then attack when you are most vonerable. Or she will leave little things of Bella's, her night gown, strands of her hair, making you follow the wrong sent trail. If _we_ are going to do this, we're doing this _together_." Emmett said.

"Right, exactly. That's why we're going with you. Damn, its times like this when I with Edward was here. That boy could follow Bella's sent for miles." Jasper added. He really did miss his brother's presence.

"Fine then. Tell Carlisle that we're leaving." Alice said turning to face Emmett.

"I'm not telling him." Emmett said, shaking his head. "I'd rather tell Rosalie that I'm in love with Bella, than tell Carlisle that we're going on a suiside mission."

"Alright, I'll tell Rosalie that you love Bella." Alice took her cell phone out of her pocket.

"No! No. I'll talk to Carlisle." Emmett turned on his heel and left the room.

"Baby." Alice grunted, although she was internally thankful.

Emmett came in the room again and looked dazed. "We can go. Carlisle is going to circle the woods around, all we need to do is call and he will be there to back us up."

Alice stepped forward to the window, speaking to the dark forest. "Ok, Victoria, lets play _chase_."


	14. Prayers

Edward drummed his hands on the steering wheel. He had left Kettle Falls just in time to catch rush hour traffic at 5:00, twenty miles out of Seattle. Great. So close to _her_, and yet so far.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit." Edward said under his breath bouncing up and down in his seat a little. Why wasn't the traffic moving faster? Can't we all move a _little_ faster than _five miles per hour_?

Edward had never prayed before, not in a hundred years. His human life was a faint memory, one, that no matter how hard he tried, could never grab. But there he was, a vampire, one that as far as he knew was damned by God, and probably the last person that He would want to hear from, and he sat there praying.

Dear _God_, please keep her safe.

Please let me keep her.

You don't understand how much I need her.

Please let me find her, _unharmed_.

I honestly don't know what I would do

if I had to stand over her broken body, _again_.

I've contemplated suicide before, even though it is

impossible. But it would be a comfort.

Keep my beloved in your arms until she can be in _mine_.

You of all people know that I'm not in the right path.

I'm a damned being. I believe my _soul_ is lost, and that

I will never be able to reach your gates. But I need to save Bella's.

I _can't_ do it on my own. I need you guidance and grace.

I'm so lost without her, I can't find myself.

Just _keep her safe_. Please.

Amen

Edward took a few breaths to ease away the sobs that had formed in his throat. His beautiful face contorted, keeping the sadness at bay. Chin wobbling, he inched his car forward. Traffic is letting up a bit, he thought, distracting himself from his prayers; he would be in Forks in no time. His next prayer was to Bella.

'Bella, baby, just hold on, hold on as tight as you can. I'm coming to get you and everything is going to be fine. We're going to get married, live in a cottage if that's what you want. I'll take care of you when you're old…' the sobs returned, and he made no effort to stop them. 'I'll be with you _forever_. As long as you're here, I'll be with you, just hold on Bells. If anything, hold on for me. I'm coming to get you, I love you so _much_.'

Edward eventually came to the ferry port and growled out loud. It was 6:30 and the next ferry didn't leave for the other port until 7:00.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit." Edward said getting out of the car, saying both of his prayers while pacing back and forth. It had become ritual to say them every thirty minuets. He was going to rip Victoria apart. If anyone got in his way, they wouldn't stand a chance. If anyone was helping her, he'd rip them limb from limb.

The ferry arrived at last, Edward let out a big sigh. _Finally_. He boarded with a few admiring looks from the female passengers. Edward smiled back at them when he caught them looking. He didn't mean to dazzle them, not on purpose. In the corner of his eye he could have sworn that a teenage girl had taken his picture.

Edward stood to gather his things when he felt a tap on his shoulder. It felt like déjà vu. He turned to look into the green eyes of Shelbie, a big smile planted on her face. Her skin looked darker,that beautiful red-brown color, than when he had seen her. Probably a couple hours in the sun had done the job. Edward gained his composure and gave her a swift hug.

"Hey what are you doing here?" Edward asked nonchalantly, even thought his thoughts kept straying toward Bella, urging the ferry to move faster.

"Apparently there's a big pow-wow going on near La Push. My dad and I are going." She said pointing at and old man on one of the chairs. His face was lined with years of hardship and wisdom. He had a cane in his right hand; he looked old enough to be her grandpa. "I was thinking about going down to Forks for a quick visit while I was down here, it wouldn't be that hard to find you right?"

Edward smiled, but his attention was still on Shelbie's father. Her keen eyes followed his gaze. "Didn't I tell you that my dad was older? He just celebrated his 75th birthday about a week before you came to town."

He was born in 1931, Edward thought. It was odd seeing it that close; he had only been a vampire a short while when this man was born. Was this how he would have looked if he had survived the Spanish Influenza, survived old age? He changed his gaze to look at Shelbie, she still sat there smiling, ignoring the glares coming from almost every woman in the passenger area. There was something that Shelbie reminded Edward of, besides Bella. Was it her eyes? Those green eyes that seemed to gaze down into his soul, knowing all the secrets he'd ever kept? Yes. It was the deep green color; his mothers face drifted in front of Edward's eyes for a brief moment, the only thing that lasted when the image disappeared was the green of his mother's eyes, now in Shelbie's. That was it. It was his mother.

"Oh, that sounds great. I think you would have fun." Edward smiled. He had the sudden urge to tell her to be careful, to watch out for a woman with wild red hair, to save her and her father.

"I'm not planning on having the greatest time." She said her eyes down cast.

"Why is that?" Edward asked curious. He needed to distract himself from the pain overwhelming him, the pain of Bella, waiting for a rescue, a rescue that wouldn't happen if this damn boat didn't hurry up.

Shelbie looked at his for a while, indecision clouding the sparkle of her eyes. She was deciding whether or not to tell him. Shelbie heaved a big sigh, "My dad's got this idea, utterly rediculess that he wants to pick my future husband." She blushed at this. "His sister was promised to her husband when she was thirteen. They got married when she was sixteen, he was eighteen. Anyway, we're going down to the La Push rez for a while, looking for marriage prospects. '_I want to find you a nice Indian husband to keep_ _the bloodlines pure_'" she said, mimicking her father's voice and making a face. "After this, I'm going to live on the Isabella reservation down in Michigan for the rest of the summer, looking for a boyfriend." She eyed Edward for a moment; she didn't understand why he had flinched when she said _Isabella_. "Doing what will make my father and the tribe happy, the story of my life." Shelbie sighed, slapping her hand to her forehead.

"I'm sorry. I don't see how that is fair." Edward said actually paying attention. It would be horrible not being able to decide your love.

"Yeah. Holy crap, we're almost there. I've got to go help my dad out of his chair; I'll talk to you later. Give me a call when you think you have time to hang out." She gave him a quick hug and ran over to her father's side.

Edward jumped into his car and was off to Forks as soon as he was clear of the ferry docks. He had no idea where he would start looking, or what he would find. But he pushed that into the back of his mind, 'focus on the goal at hand, Bella, Bella.' He repeated over and over in his head driving on, saying his prayers. He through another one in though.

'Please keep Shelbie and her father safe in La Push.'

And that was how Edward went to Forks, praying and driving to lord knows what, without a glance behind him. All he saw was Bella's face. That was enough motivation.


	15. Crimson Wild Flowers

Victoria ran until she came to a meadow, it was the perfect place for what was going to happen…it was a perfectly symmetrical meadow, wild flowers in bloom all over the place. Simply perfect, Victoria thought, an evil grin contorting her features.

The beast stayed out of the meadow, there was no reason for it to not step out into the moonlight, but something kept him at bay. Where was that snarling coming from? In It's head? It was not his, it was a warning growl. This was a special place, he had no business stepping foot on it, at least that's what his instincts were telling him. The red haired female would soon pay the price for setting foot here, he was sure of it.

The Beast just sat and watched, the female was moving around, sticking a large post into the middle of the clearing, driving it deep into the surface of the earth. She would pay for that, the maiming of the earth, It thought. There was a large railroad tie nail in the back of the post. The Beast cocked its head to one side and watched the female curiously, what was she doing with a syringe?

Victoria took the small vile and syringe out of her small bag. She took Bella's limp arm and gave her a good dose of adrenalin. Throwing the utensils back into her bag, she grabbed Bella just in time to restrain her while she jolted awake. Making her stand up, Victoria tied Bella to the post, wrapping the bonds that held her hands to the nail.

Bella shook her head, trying to put things together. She felt sick.

What am I doing here? I thought. Looking around I saw Victoria's figure in front of me. Her face contorted into, a smile? Victoria's eyes were wild, but decisive, she was thinking this through. I heard a small growl coming from the shadows; I turned to see where it had come from, and instantly regretted that decision.

In the darkness stood a beast, so massive, it was easily bigger than a horse, It had a dog like face, the thickness of a bear (instantly reminding me of Emmett). Its hind legs were like that of a cat's, with a wolf like tail. It had a large and tangled mane of black and brown fur, leaves and twigs stuck this way and that in its black fur. The whole beast's body and breath seemed to reek of death, was this my imagination? The devil's mutant beast, serving as the grim reaper? The Beast's snout was thick, like a bear's, with saliva dripping to the ground in long strings, and its ears were very large, clearly made for exquisite hearing. But the worst part was The Beast's eyes, empty white spaces, deprived of soul or feeling. What was this beast of the night? I screamed in horror, it was an ear splitting sound, but it seemed to be music to Victoria's ears.

She stood there laughing for a long while. I was transfixed by the creature's eyes, though they were blank, somehow I got the feeling that they felt pity, sadness triggered by my scream. Was this beast as brainless as I had first thought? I would have handled the brainless beast better, I screamed again, sending The Beast recoiling back a little further into the darkness, and sent Victoria into hysterics.

"Oh is Isabella afraid of the dumb brute? Do you want you're little Edward to come save you? Ha! You'll wish that you were dead, Isabella Swan. You'll be begging me to set my pet to feed on you. I'll enjoy this, I really will." She came slowly towards me, my heart loud and fast enough to dance to. I closed my eyes and waited…but nothing happened, she just stood inches away from me.

Then something hard hit the side of my face. Stars and fireworks went off in front of my eyes. The movement was so sudden, that it took me a moment to grasp the fact that Victoria had slapped me. She laughed at the fact that I was bleeding; she hadn't hit me with all of her power, which was like her tapping someone lightly on the shoulder that was her being gentle.

She leaned forward and liked the blood that was running from the corner of my mouth; I was in for quite a night. Did anyone know I was gone? The last thing I remembered was falling asleep in my bedroom.

Victoria leaned away, closing her eyes as if to savor the taste of my blood in her mouth. She opened her eyes to look at me, they were different. "I had a nice meal before I came to get you, Bella. I knew that I needed to keep you alive and resist your blood so I could enjoy this. I had four meals in a row today, just in case." She ran to the other end of the clearing. She effortlessly carried out an over weight middle aged man from the trees. I didn't recognize him, but tears ran down my face none the less. Victoria began to drink what was left of the man's blood, though he was already dead. She was saving him for later, use him to scare me. It was working.

Victoria picked up her head from his neck once she was done. There was a sheen of crimson coating the once beautiful and untainted wild flowers beside her. The blood covered her mouth, even the tip of her nose, ran down her neck, into her shirt. She looked like a two year old who had birthday cake all over his face after his birthday party. It was sick.

"Mmmm…perfectly aged." She said licking her lips. I closed my eyes tight and tried to breathe out of my mouth. Suppressing the feeling to vomit…or scream.

The tears flowed down my face like two water falls. Who long would she wait until I was her next prey? But something happened then, something I couldn't quiet explain. I heard Edwards voice in my ear, it was faint and I couldn't understand what he was saying, but I knew it was his honey voice that whispered in my ear.

My eyes snapped open, half expecting to see his standing beside me…but there was nothing. Just Victoria and the monster in the shadows. But then I heard Edwards voice again so I closed my eyes once more and concentrated. I could hear him clearly now, and what he said brought tears to my eyes.

'_Bella, baby, just hold on, hold on as tight as you can. I'm coming to get you and everything is going to be fine. We're going to get married, live in a cottage if that's what you want. I'll take care of you when you're old. I'll be with you forever. As long as you're here, I'll be with you, just hold on Bells. If anything, hold on for me. I'm coming to get you, I love you so much_.'

I lifted me tear stained face towards the night sky. Looking at the stars. Edward's voice in my head had been so comforting, but I refused to believe that it was real. I had no chance of survival. But the voice had given me strength, just when I was going to give up. 'Thank you, subconscious.' I thought. The hallucination had been great.

I opened my eyes once more, looking at the star spotted sky when out of no where Victoria's fist hit my stomach. My head snapped forward, gasping for air just before I leaned to the side to vomit. I was lost in the darkness for a brief moment then I heard his voice. _I love you so much…hold on as tight as you can_.

I opened my eyes against the blackness to see Victoria smiling again. "You're sick." I said, fighting the urge to throw up again.

"I'm the sick one?" she said, sounding offended. "You _all_ ganged up on James! That wasn't sick and unfair? You disgust me!" Victoria took a step forward and spit in my face.

'Edward…hurry!' I pleaded; I began to doubt that I would ever see his beautiful angelic face again. What would it be like, dieing? It was unlikely that Victoria would make it swift, but would it be a relief or a curse? Who would take care of Charlie? Renee? Who would watch out for Edward, making sure he didn't do something stupid. Alice would, I thought. Alice would be there. I felt a sudden sense of calm, now that I knew that someone would take care of things it felt easier to let go. To let go…


	16. Love Songs

Alice was running full speed when her phone rang. Emmett, Jasper, and Carlisle were still circling the forest, so Alice gave a shout. They were all by her side by the time the phone rang a second time.

Alice put it on loud-speaker before she answered. "Hello?" she said.

"Alice, have you found her? Is she okay?" Edward said, keeping his voice low and even, trying to keep it from cracking with emotion.

"No, we've been looking for her since I called you. Where are you?"

"I docked in Port Hadlock; I just got out of Carlsborg and am about to enter Port Angeles. So, you haven't found her?"

"No, I'm so sorry Edward."

"Oh, God…" Edward sounded like he was crying, if it was possible for their kind to shed tears.

Carlisle motioned that he wanted the phone; Alice passed it over and stood by Jasper and Emmett, all exchanging glum looks.

"Edward, I need you to stay focused. I need you to get to the hospital; one of us will be waiting for you. It hasn't rained yet but we can't follow her sent anymore, we need you to be alert, son. We're going to find her." Carlisle's tone was soft and kind, comforting his "oldest". It was hard to hear his son in pain like this.

"But Dad, I'm scared…I don't know what to do." Edward barely choked out.

Carlisle's face looked pained, he recovered quickly though. "Edward, I know, I'm scared too. We're going to find her. I'll do all it takes to get her back, I love you, son."

"I love you too, Dad." Edward sobbed before he hung up.

They all stood still and silent for a long while. Many thoughts running through their heads: hopes, doubts, the well being of their brother. Everybody, except for Rosalie, had already accepted Bella into their family unit, their coven. They worried for their sister's safety, their daughter's safety.

Emmett and Jasper both had kind of spilled the beans to Rosalie, Alice, Esme, and Carlisle, that Edward had been thinking about asking Bella to marry him. The idea had issued a screaming match between Alice and Rosalie; both were on opposing sides of the idea. While the fight was going on, Jasper and Emmett had to restrain their mates. Both men were very tempted to let go and watch the fight, Emmett had already put money down on Rosalie to win, but the boys thought better of it.

Carlisle was the first to break the silence. "Who's going to wait for Edward at the hospital? We need to start to think about a new strategy first. I swear if I have to circle this little section of the forest one more time…"

"Well, I've been thinking, what if Victoria had this all planned out? She thought and rethought ideas and formed a strategic plan. Poison Bella the first time, no heavy dosage or anything, just enough to get her sick, to see how much it will take and to see what we would do. She stayed around, watched us, watched Bella and waited for a time when she was alone. Poison her and wait at the hospital for us. She basically came in, did a snatch and go from Bella's window and left. What If she has a place set up to take Bella to." Emmett explained, he had obviously given this much thought. Alice realized that he did love Bella, like he loved her, like a little sister.

"That would make sense. I was kneeling by Bella when she came through the window, she probably didn't see me there. That would explain why she looked surprised for a second, she didn't expect to find anyone else in the room. She thought that coming in when no one was around, would make it harder for us to track her, and give her time to get to the location she picked."

"If she felt that she needed time to get there, then it must be farther in the forest. We're searching in the wrong place. We need to expand our perimeter. Now, who's going to wait for Edward?" Jasper added.

Carlisle took a step back and looked at his children, he was proud, to say the least. "I'll stay and wait for him. He probably needs to be calmed down first. Shall we split? Expand the perimeter about 20 miles wider. Ill yell when I come back with Edward, you guys better hurry too, he'll be eager to start and he's faster that all of us." With that they all went their separate ways into the wood.

I could feel my face swell where Victoria had hit me. The taste of blood was still in my mouth, making me gag. I ran my tongue around my teeth feeling if any where missing or loose. Nope, not one, that was comforting to a certain degree.

Victoria was in the far part of the wood, rocking back and forth singing. At first it didn't sound familiar but, thinking back to my childhood, I remembered instantly.

"_You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. You'll never know how much I love you; please don't take my sunshine away_." She laughed hysterically. She really was deranged.

I couldn't help but pity her though. She was worse now that James was gone. We shared something in common, we were in love. The only difference was that her lover was dead. Victoria quit laughing and went on singing, this time a song that was in French.

"_Quand tu me prands dans tes bras_

_Quand je regarde dans tes yeux_

_Je vois qu'un Dieu existe_

_Ce n'est pas dur d'y croire_"

"You sing very well." It wasn't a lie, her voice was beautiful, and she was beautiful. Sometimes it amazed me, she was like Rosalie, how could someone so pretty be so _ugly_. "What does it mean?" I was talking her up, making her stall so she wouldn't hit me again. But even if she did, I was prepared to die, it was okay with me.

She stopped rocking and looked up at me, wondering why I was talking to her.

"_You've got something I can't resist_

_Things are what they will be_

_When I look into your eyes, they say to me_

_That God still exists_

_You make me believe_."

I couldn't hide the shock that covered my face, it was a love song. Maybe this was the key to keeping her from killing me for a while. I searched my memory for love songs that meant something to me.

"I have love songs like that too, with me and Edward. Do you want to hear some? We could trade back and forth, I'm sure you've got lots." At first her expression scared me. '_Shit, Isabella Marie Swan, you've just signed your fucking death certificate_._Dumb, dumb_ _girl_.' But then she changed.

"Okay." She said simply, turning to face me, still sitting where she was, criss-crossing her legs. She actually seemed interested.

"I'm not as good of a singer as you are, so you're in for some pretty butchered songs. But they still mean the same, right? I was going to have Edward listen to this one before…well you know. It's from me to him. Here it is." I cleared my throat and began.

"_Don't know where you are_

_Wish I could just be near you_

_I would sail oceans_

_To get a glimpse of how you feel_

_You're all the things I'm looking for_

_Everything and so much more_

_What I think, you are just perfect_

_Could it be, that I am worth it_

_Is this thing an open door?_

_Walk right through to something more_

_You and me_

_My life would change in a second_

_In a second_

_Don't know how you feel_

_Seem to keep it to yourself_

_Would you climb mountains_

_To show me this is something real_

_You're all the things I'm looking for_

_Everything and so much more_

_You and me_

_My life would change in a second_

_In a second_"

My voice had been shaky at first, but I just went with the song and ended it with confidence. I looked at Victoria to see her reaction. Her mouth hung open a little bit, was that a good thing?

"That's how I felt about James, _exactly_ how I felt. He was my mate you know." Victoria said her head down.

"I had an idea. I didn't know for sure."

"When did you know that…Edward," she hissed his name. "Was the one for you? Or did you just want to be the plaything of a coven of vampires?" She seemed truly interested.

I scanned all of my memories and thoughts, trying to find that moment. I had never really thought about it, not extensively. It had almost been obvious that I felt love toward Edward. But then I actually took a look around me. This was our perfectly symmetrical meadow. I hadn't even recognized it, it looked so different in the moonlight. I was so shocked my mouth was open and I gasped, a smile spreading across my face.

When I looked back to Victoria, she seemed puzzled by my reaction. I starred at her, the smile still in place. "It was a sunny day. It had been a few weeks, or days, I can't remember, that I had found out that Edward and his family were vampires. I had planned earlier that Edward was going to drive me to Seattle to look at books, but he said that instead, we were going to go for a walk. He drove my truck to this opening of a trail, I remember feeling terrified, I'm not the most graceful person alive even for a human. I panicked even more when he started to lead me away from the trail and onto a path that wasn't marked. He walked, I tripped, then there was a small break in the trees, I stepped through into the light. He was still in the shadows, looking at me kind of funny." I chuckled as I saw his face with that very expression, flash through my mind. "But then he stepped into the sun too." I whispered now, my face serious in the awe of the memory. "It was so _beautiful_. The light refracting off of him, making everything more, I don't know, beautiful. We lay down and talked, kissed, didn't say a thing for hours on end." I looked around myself again, seeing clearly, how that day had been. "It was right here, that I knew that I loved him. This very spot, the wild flowers were blooming, animals running this way and that, It was right here that I knew I wanted to be with him forever." I sighed, then ducked my head to blush, why was I spilling my guts to Victoria, the person who wanted to kill me, about such personal things?

"Weren't you afraid? In the middle of a forest, no one around to hear you scream," She stood now, and in he blink of an eye, was face to face with me. She pulled a piece of my hair behind my ear. I was beginning to get uncomfortable. "No one would have known where you went. And the trip to Seattle that you had planed before, there are mountains and ravines everywhere on the way, no one would have found you. Why didn't you stay away?"

"I don't know." Because I was stupid, "I just never thought about him hurting me. I never had a doubt that he _could_, but my heart told me he wouldn't." It barely made sense to me, but hearing it made me understand. Edward was always saying '_I could do this…I could do that…_' could. He said that he _could_, not that he _would_. That's why I wasn't afraid of him, he never would kill me, hurt me, never. He was capable, but he never would.

Victoria took a step back. "That does make sense." Then her eyebrows furrowed. "Do you think, that if I was human, and we were in a different situation, do you think we would have been friends?"

"Yes, Victoria, we would be friends." I spoke the truth. She was a nice person, in a bad position.

"Yeah, I think so too. That's why I want you to know…It's going to be hard to kill you."

My breath caught in my chest as she stepped towards me…


	17. Screams

Carlisle only had to sit for a few minuets when the Volvo pulled into the parking lot of the Forks County General Hospital. Edward came to Carlisle with arms open needing a hug. If looks could break your heart, Carlisle thought.

"Dad, I don't know what I'll do if anything…" sobs racked Edward's strong body, rendering him unable to finish his sentence.

Carlisle pulled his son closer to him. "I know, we're going to find her, I promise."

Edward let go first, taking a deep shaking breath. "Lets get her back." He said keeping his voice even, every word reeked with hatred.

They walked into the forest, once under the cover of the trees both of them ran full speed; Carlisle was lagging behind a little. They stopped shortly so Carlisle could call the others. Once everyone was gathered together, they turned towards Edward, waiting for him to lead the way.

Edward bent down and grabbed a handful of dirt, leaves and bracken, holding it to his nose and smelling. He walked further and did the same thing. "She passed through right here, Victoria took her that way." Then with a lurch, he took off in the direction that he had pointed.

All the while he was running he was looking for that sent that drove him crazy. The sent that felt like a punch to the stomach every time she flipped her hair off of her shoulder, the smell that slapped him in the face when he bent down to caress her lips with his own.

'I'll find you Bella, honey. I promise.'

"Do you think, that if I was human, and we were in a different situation, do you think we would have been friends?"

"Yes, Victoria, we would be friends." I spoke the truth. She was a nice person, in a bad position.

"Yeah, I think so too. That's why I want you to know…It's going to be hard to kill you."

My breath caught in my chest as she stepped towards me. It took me a second to catch all that had just happened. I panicked, thinking of anything that would stop her.

"Don't you have a song? I have another one if you want to hear it."

She walked agonizingly slow; taking her time in the approach. The look in her eyes told me she was giving me time to get on with it.

"_You make me feel out of my element_

_Like I'm walking on broken glass_

_Like my worlds spinning in slow motion_

_And you're moving to fast_

_Were you right, was I wrong?_

_Were you weak, was I strong?_

_Both of us broken_

_Caught in the moment_

_We lived we loved_

Victoria was in front of me in no time. She dug her fingernails into my shoulder and ripped down. I gave a blood curdling scream. Her other hand came and hit me in the side of the face.

"This is for James' death. It's the only way to make things even." She said tarring her nails out of my shoulder. I kept singing, though it was more like me screaming the words.

_And we hurt and we joked,_

_But the planets all aligned _

_When you looked into my eyes_

_And just like that_

_The chemicals react_

_You make me feel out of my element_

_Like I'm drifting out to sea_

_Like the tides pulling me in deeper_

_Making it harder to breathe._

Victoria put her hand to my neck, restricting my airways just enough to where I could barely breathe. While holding my head, she kneed my in my stomach once more, turning my head so I didn't throw up on her. While all this was going on, I could hear the monster in the shadows growling. Victoria walked over to where The Beast was.

"Sounds like he wants a piece too, I really am sorry about this Bella, I'll let you rest for a bit so you can have more strength to try and fight it."

I stood there, tears running down my face, but, like an idiot I finished singing the song in a whisper.

_We lived_

_We loved_

_We hurt_

_We joked_

_We're right_

_We're wrong_

_We're weak_

_We're strong_

_We lived to love_."

"Victoria, why are you still doing this? Why? I thought that we could be friends." I thought the exact opposite now that she had strangled me, but I had in the beginning. I had hoped that she was going to change, become a good vampire, that she would let that nice side that I loved so much show to other people. But I had hoped in vein.

She was face to face with me in an instant. She lifted my chin with her cold fingers. "And we would be, but, out in my world, its survival of the fittest. You're weak, I'm strong. An eye for an eye, a mate for a mate, your _Edward_ killed my James. So I'm going to kill you. I'm going to make it hurt; I'm going to make you suffer. I'm going to enjoy every _scream_, every _tear_, and every drop of _blood_ you shed." She put her fingertips to my shoulder; the blood stained the hospital gown and her pale skin. She liked each finger individually, reveling in the taste of my blood. Victoria leaned close, her nose almost touching mine. "You're fucked."

After she left to go sit by the monster I took a look at myself. I was dressed in one of those standard white cloth hospital gowns. The moisture in the air, coming from the approaching storm made my brown hair frizz and curl a little. I must look like a mental patient, I thought. I starred down to look at my bare feet.

Something must have happened for me to end up in one of these. I checked around the meadow, looking for my clothes. Maybe Victoria had the gown already in her possession. Why do you even care, I thought, your going to die anyway, why would you need clothes?

I sighed and leaned my head on the post, wishing that I could get a hand free and wipe away the sweat that was getting in my eyes and stinging. It was in that moment that I heard Edward's voice in the back of my head. '_Scream, Bella honey. Scream with all your might, I'll be listening_.'

Was this normal? Was this what your mind did when you were about to die? I looked at my shoulder; the blood was running down to my elbow then dripping on one of the white wild flowers underneath. I snapped my head back, starring straight ahead, breathing through my mouth, trying to fight the nausea. I was bleeding a lot. Maybe I was getting lightheaded from blood loss.

"Are you ready to fight for your life?" Victoria said, still standing by the monster. That was when I realized that the "animal" was chained to a couple thick trees.

"No." I choked.

"I'll make you a deal, I'll let It have some fun with you, when you have some body parts missing, I'll finish you off, I'll make it quick. I promise."

"I don't want you to promise me anything." I spat.

"That's you're mistake." With that she let go of the pin that held The Beasts chains together, quickly running away to stand in front of my by the trees, a nice safe distance to watch.

I looked over with horror to where the monster was still sitting. It easily shrugged off the rest of the chains, ripping off the one around its neck. It didn't move for a second but slowly It turned its head to look into my eyes, then It turned its gaze upward to look at the full moon. With that it was running through the trees, not into the moonlit meadow, but it kept to the shadows heading straight for Victoria.

It caught her in the side, knocking her on her back. Two of its paws held Victoria's arms to the ground, pinning her to the earth while it gave a tremendous growl in her face. Next thing I knew Victoria was in its mouth while it was walking over to where it had been chained. Its huge body blocked Victoria from my line of view, but as soon as it moved out of the way I saw Victoria chained to the trees.

Again Edward's voice came back to be, 'Scream, Bella. All I ask is that you scream.' I gathered all of the air that my lungs could hold, and began to scream, loud. Once that batch of air was spent I drew breath again and screamed, over and over.

The monster turned to face me now it had always stuck to the shadows of the trees. It looked at me for a couple beats with those terrifying, intelligent blank eyes, unmoving. But then it stepped out of the darkness and into the moonlight.

I screamed like I had never screamed before…

Edward stopped sudenly, closing his eyes in consentration. He opened them and looked to Alice, Emmett, Jasper and Carlisle.

"Did you hear that?" He asked simply.

"Yeah," Alice said. "A growl, and screaming."

By the time she finished her sentence, Edward was already running.


	18. My Kind Of Heaven

I screamed like I had never screamed before. As the monster came into the moonlit meadow it stood on its hind legs, the fur on its body looked like it was melting off. The creature shrank and became the size of a man, its features morphing to fit that of a person. It was still crouched on the ground after the metamorphosis was complete.

When It stood, it was wearing nothing but torn pants, his skin was pale like a vampires, his chest was broad and muscular, his arms were strong, he had thick legs with cords of muscle bulging out of his legs, muscle built up from lots of running.

I let out another loud scream as it came closer to me.

"What the hell are you? Are you a werewolf? Get away from me!" I yelled. I glanced over to Victoria; she looked as shocked as I was by the transformation.

The creature looked pained, its hand extended to touch me. "I am nothing. I am empty. No longer human, not a vampire, not a werewolf, I am a creature of hell." He said. He had a strange accent.

"I've been waiting for this moment for 481 years. I'm back Isabella." He said looking at me again, stepping forward.

"I don't know you. Who the hell are you? How do you know my name?" All of this was rather shocking. This _thing_ had gone from monster in the shadows to human in five seconds, now it was calling me by my proper name. What was it going to do next? Start tap dancing?

"Don't you recognize me Isabella? It's me, Alessandro. Alessandro Di Medici. We met at the funeral of King Francis I, you were escort to his niece, Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre. Do you not remember, my love?" Alessandro said, introducing himself.

"My love? What? I've never even seen you before!" The name Francis I sounded familiar. I dug around in my memory, back to world history. King Francis I, King of France…he died in like, 1500 something.

"I wasn't around in the1500's. I was born in the 80's! You've got the wrong person." What was going on here?

"Isabella, my love, do you not remember? The night we met by the fountain, the moon, a witness to our first kiss. Your hair fell down your back in beautiful waves that gleamed in the moonlight, your eyes lit up as are lips parted, they were like pools of sweet honey." He closed his eyes as if to remember the moment, he was definitely a love sick puppy. "Then Eduardo stepped into the light, telling you my secret, the secret I was going to tell you, that you were in love with a vampire. I want you to know that I tore Eduardo apart for what he did to you; I have never forgiven myself for what happened that night. 400 years of wallowing in heartache." Alessandro lifted his hand to stroke my bruised cheek, his icy fingers felt good on my skin, and the chill sent shivers down my spine.

"What happened?" I asked, what had this girl been through?

"Eduardo drank your blood. He murdered you, my sweet. I have never forgiven myself for allowing that to happen, I died the moment you let go of life in my arms. I sold myself to Lucifer; he promised that I would be with you again once I served him for 1,000 lifetimes. But now I have you here, and I'm ready to die now that I have you."

Oh, no. Isabella, that's not me, died 400 years ago, but he thinks I'm her. This could be bad, very bad.

"I've waited so long to say this to your face, Isabella, I love you." He leaned forward, pressing his mouth to mine. His kiss was so passionate that I couldn't have stopped him if I tried; my hands were literally tied behind my back. He thought that I was his lover, so I played the part, as long as it kept me alive a little bit longer.

Alessandro parted as there was a sound of chains hitting the ground; Victoria had slipped through her bonds. She attacked Alessandro with such force he was knocked backwards onto his back. She was on top of him, scratching his eyes, his face, punching him, kicking him. I screamed in horror, he wasn't fighting back; he was lying there taking every blow Victoria dealt him.

"Fight her Alessandro! Fight back!" My voice was horse as I screamed, tears running down my face. And no matter how much I yelled he never moved to block a hit, never flinched as Victoria's nails dug into his face, not once. I closed my eyes to the horrors.

When I opened them again, I saw Victoria heading straight for me, looking over her shoulder, I could see that Alessandro was gone. She kept coming to me, shoulders and hands shaking with rage. This was it, I thought. I was going to die in our meadow. I thought for a second, once decided, I took a deep breath for one last scream; I was going to make it count.

"I love you Edward!" my words echoing into the forest, bouncing this way and that on the trees thick trunks until they faded into nothingness. I had said all I needed to say. So now, I waited for my imminent doom, promising that I wasn't going to say another word utter another sound, I was going to die quietly.

Victoria circled me a few times then lunged to kick me in the knee, making my legs buckle and lowering me to the ground a bit. I quickly got up so my arms wouldn't be dislocated because they were still tied to the post. I unclenched my teeth and waited for the next blow, I still hadn't screamed.

"Are you trying to act tough? Well lets see just how much little Isabella can handle before she begs for death." Victoria stuck her nails deep into my thigh twisted her hand around and down about four inches from my knee then let go. Tears ran down my pain twisted face, they were the only notion to the fact that I was hurting.

"Alright, this little "die silently" thing is starting to piss me off. I'm going to make you scream one way or the other, you _are_ going to scream."

My only response was shaking my head "no". This simple gesture of defiance sent Victoria into a deadly rage. She began to punch, slap, kick, and claw every part of my body she could get at. I forced my eyes open for a moment to see a blur ram into Victoria, sending her flying. More blurs entered the meadow, but I never got a good look at them. I had to close my eyes against the pain, moving my head to the side to vomit, once again.

I could hear growling, roaring, sometimes it sounded like there was a rockslide happening right next to me. Then there was silence. It felt like my bonds were cut and I was falling into nothingness until I hit something hard, the ground maybe?

There were muffled voices all around me, they were angelically beautiful, the angels were calling to me, beckoning me closer to their open arms. One voice stood out above the rest, it was kind and gentle, and he told me that he was my Guardian Angel. "My Guardian Angel? I'm coming!" I yelled back, reaching my hand out to hold his so he could guide me to where I was supposed to go.

His hand was smooth, and cool. He was tall and pale with auburn hair, something was familiar about him, was it his eyes? They were like the color of light honey.

"Come on Isabella, I'm bringing you Heaven." His voice nice and comforting.

"Okay. I'll follow you angel."

He still had a hold of my hand, while we were falling down through warm, crystal-clear water. I looked around in the water, pictures and scenes from my life were playing out on the water. When I was almost ran over by Tyler's van, packing to leave for Forks for the first time, my parents' wedding picture, the first time I went over to Edward's house, the last time Edward's lips were on mine. The moments of my life that mattered to me.

Then my Angel led me through a waterfall, I realized we had actually fallen up. My angel and I walked through some trees and stepped into mine and Edward's meadow. The sun was shining, birds singing, the wildflowers blowing in the wind. A man in a white shirt and pants had his back turned to me, looking into the distance.

"Here, I have brought you Heaven." My angel whispered in my ear, I turned to find him, but he was already gone. I turned to the man in the meadow, "Hello?"

The man turned to face me, I gasped as I saw that it was Edward. He looked different, he wasn't as pale and his eyes were beautiful green. He…he was human.

"Edward? How did you get here? Please don't tell me that Victoria got you too." Tears were streaming down my face. Edward ran to meet me, his arms in a protective hold on my shaking frame.

"Shhh. It's okay Bella; it's going to be okay." Edward said pressing his lips to my hair, comforting me.

I turned to stare at him; he was as beautiful as he had always been as a vampire. I looked at him, remembering his face. The frown lines on his forehead, the cuteness of that crooked smile I loved so much. "You're human." I pointed out.

He laughed out loud, a happy sound. "Yep, pretty cool, huh? I can stay with you forever, come on lets go." He pulled me to the trees, still chuckling.

"Wait, this is Heaven, you can't just leave." Edward's behavior was confusing me.

"The angel told you that he had brought you Heaven. Well, he was talking to me. Lets leave now, I need you back home."

I still held onto his hand, and we were under the water once more. Going up, up. And with such sudden force and shock, my head broke through the surface, I looked around me, there was no water, just a sea of wild flowers in the meadow, the moon lighting the place. But my eyes soon found Edward's. My whole body thrashed with pain. I screamed as someone put pressure to my leg and shoulder. I tore my gaze from Edward's to look up and see Emmett, holding me down, a towel pressed to my shoulder. It looked like he wasn't breathing.

I looked down to my leg and saw Carlisle pressing a towel to my thigh. Looking back at Edward, I could see he wasn't breathing either, but his body was shaking with sobs.

"Oh, Bella, I thought I had lost you." He looked up to the stars, "Thank you Jesus."

I saw a flicker of orange behind him, "Was' that?" I slurred, my face very swollen.

"Alice and Jasper are taking care of Victoria. Don't worry about it, I need you to focus on getting better." His voice was tense at Victoria's name.

I realized why Jasper and Alice were so far away, Jasper was the "newest" edition to the Cullen's and was the most weak when it came to being around blood.

"I'm tired." I moaned, Carlisle was poking my leg.

Edward glanced at Carlisle for a moment, nodded once then turned back to me. "That's okay, honey. You can go to sleep now, I'll be right here."

"Mmmm." I closed my eyes. "Where's Alessandro?" I asked.

"Who the hell is she talking about? Dad, how much morphine did you give her?" Emmett asked.

"We'll ask questions later. _She_ needs sleep, _I_ need to stitch her up, and _you_ need to hold that towel to her shoulder. We all have jobs to do Emmett, the least you could do, is do yours in silence, I need to concentrate." Carlisle said in an even tone.

I drifted into La, la land, while Edward held me close.


	19. Welcome Back

**Author's note**: **This chapter is in third person, but it's what happened while Bella was with Alessandro to when she was out of it.**

Edward stopped running and closed his eyes to concentrate.

"Do you hear that?" He asked opening his eyes.

"Yeah," Alice said. "Growling and screams."

But by the time she had finished her sentence, Edward was already running. They all ran after him, barely able to catch up, he was fast already, but with this new motivation, he was even faster.

"Edward! Edward, slow down!" Alice said barely loud enough for Edward to hear, but with so much authority she might as well have been yelling. He slowed, but not by much.

Edward kept smelling for Bella's scent, and listening for her screams. '_Scream, Bella, that's all I ask._' He soon crossed a track that seemed familiar. Memories of a sunny afternoon flashed through his head. Oh, shit. He stopped to talk to Carlisle and everyone about what he just found.

"I know exactly where she is." Edward said his voice shaking with rage.

"Whoa! Look at these tracks!" Jasper said kneeling.

"What made those? Wolves? Bears?" Emmett asked.

"No, those look like they could be wolf tracks, but they're too big. But it's defiantly not a bear." Alice said back.

"What makes you say that?" Carlisle inquired.

"They're too big. Whatever made these tracks, it's gigantic. But look, the front paw prints are different than the back ones. Like it's a new animal, but they are both the same thickness, and they both had the same amount of pressure on them. See how they go into the ground at the same level?" She pointed to the prints in the ground.

The prints were huge. Emmett took his size 13 shoe and stepped into the print. The print was still bigger. "What the hell is Victoria up to?" Emmett asked.

Just then there was more screams, they were being formed into words, but the density of the forest stopped them from reaching their ears. Alice pushed Edward forward; they all ran a short distance forward, then waited for another yell. And another did come, crystal clear.

"I love you Edward!"

They all didn't move, shivers running up and down their spines. Waiting for another scream, a yell, anything. But nothing came.

"Edward." Alice grabbed his hand and held his face with her other hand, "Edward, concentrate, find Victoria's voice. Listen to her thoughts, find out where she is."

Edward closed his eyes; he soon found Victoria's voice, clear as a bell. '_Alright, this little "die silently" thing is starting to piss me off. I'm going to make you scream one way or the other, you are going to scream._' Edward could see Bella through Victoria's eyes. She was battered and bruised, a horrible sight. But she never spoke a word all she did was shake her head "no". That was the biggest mistake Bella could have made.

Edward snapped his eyes open. "We've got to hurry." Before another word could be said, he was off running.

The trees became blurs as he ran by, but he knew exactly where he was going. He soon broke through the trees into the clearing, hitting Victoria and taking her to the ground, he began to hit, bite, kick, and punch Victoria. Grabbing her arms and tarring them off with one fatal swipe at her shoulder. Emmett came to restrain Edward, and Jasper and Alice came to finish Victoria off.

"LET GO OF ME DAMN IT! EMMETT I'M GOING TO FINISH HER!" Edward was yelling and struggling against his brother, but Emmett held him tight in a massive bear hug.

"Edward, calm down, we need your help with Bella. I'm not going to let you come near her if you're acting like this. Calm down, you took care of Victoria, now go to Bella. But you're not going near her like this. Calm the fuck down." Emmett whispered into Edward's ear.

Edward took a deep breath to calm himself. Once Emmett was sure that he was done ranting, he let go of his brother and took up his spot on the other side of Bella. Edward brought Bella up into his arms, rocking back and forth, sobbing into her lovely brown hair, taking in her sent.

"Oh, wake up Bella! You need to be awake. Come on, sweetie." Edward said laying her head on his lap.

Carlisle was checking for other wounds, when he found the one on her leg. It was really bad. He looked up to see if Bella was responding to Edward. Her eyes were still closed.

"Edward, I'm going to start to press on her leg, to see if she responds to pain." Carlisle lifted the hospital gown up to show the wound on her thigh. Edward hissed and looked away.

"Edward, calm down. You got her good; we need to take care of this." Emmett said to his brother.

Carlisle began to press on Bella's leg. Nothing. No twitch, scream, her eyes didn't even open. He pressed harder. Bella's eyes shot open.

"Bella! Bella you're alive, I'm here for you, baby! Bella?" Edward said looking into her eyes. They were glazed over, staring at nothing.

"Bella? Bella wake up." Edward said, shaking her shoulders slightly.

"My Guardian Angel? I'm coming!" she whispered. At that moment Edward's heart dropped into his stomach.

"Dad, can't you do anything? What is she talking to?" Emmett said, panicked by her words. Carlisle looked as confused as the others, in all his years in the medical field; he had never experienced this kind of thing.

Bella extended her arm to the sky, reaching for something. Edward grabbed her hand and held it to his lips, then his heart.

"Okay. I'll follow you angel."

"No Bella, don't follow, I need you here. I need you with me, you can't just leave." Edward cried, as Bella's eyes closed. "Carlisle, do something!"

"Alice, honey, run home, get my medical bag in my office and ask Esme for some towels, lots of towels."

She asked Jasper to come with her, she didn't want him to be alone and she needed help carrying the stuff that Carlisle needed. "We'll be back soon." And with that, they were off.

"Carlisle, what's going to happen?" Edward said his chin quivering.

"I don't know, I'll do the best I can."

"I was going to come back. I wasn't going to stay away forever." Edward said, brushing the hair out of Bella's eyes. He knew how she hated it when hair would get into her face.

"I'm sure she knows that Edward." Carlisle said.

"I just needed to think about things. I never thought that anything bad would happen. I guess I was kind of stupid for thinking that, if there was a way to choke on rice, she'd probably find it." He chuckled a little. "I was going to ask her to marry me. I want to be with her, always. Would that be okay, Dad? Would you have let me marry her?" He said, looking up to Carlisle.

"It was okay with me from the beginning. I've always considered her apart of our coven. I would love to make it official, if that's what would make you happy."

"Yeah, it would have. But now, she's gone." Edward started to sob again.

"Don't think that way, don't you dare. She's still here. She is still breathing; don't treat her like she's already dead. Carlisle will fix her. You kids are going to be happy together." Emmett told his brother, giving him hope.

Alice and Jasper returned with towels in tow. Plugging her nose, Alice carried everything over to Carlisle, then left to start the fire. "Emmett, hold this towel firmly to her shoulder, keep pressure there, and the bleeding will eventually stop. I'll switch you spots when I'm done putting stitches in her leg. It will take a while. But we'll get it done once I get the bleeding to stop." He said taking a needle out of his bag with a little vile, putting it in Bella's arm, giving her morphine to ease the pain. He began pressing a towel to her thigh.

Bella's eyes fluttered open again, she screamed as she felt all of the pain. She looked at Edward to Emmett and finally to Carlisle. The look in Emmett's eyes told Edward '_I told you so_.'

"Oh, Bella, I thought I had lost you." He looked up to the stars, "Thank you Jesus."

"Was' that?" she slurred, looking behind Edward.

"Alice and Jasper are taking care of Victoria. Don't worry about it; I need you to focus of getting better." Edward's voice grew tense when he said Victoria's name.

She nodded slightly. "I'm tired."

Edward glanced at Carlisle for a moment, nodded once then turned his attention back to Bella. "That's okay, honey. You can go to sleep now, I'll be right here."

"Mmmm." She sighed, closing her eyes. "Where's Alessandro?"

"Who the hell is she talking about? Dad, how much morphine did you give her?" Emmett asked.

"We'll ask questions later. _She_ needs sleep, _I_ need to stitch her up, and _you_ need to hold that towel to her shoulder. We all have jobs to do Emmett, the least you can do, is do yours in silence, I need to concentrate." Carlisle said in an even tone.

Emmett looked at Edward and gave him a wink. Edward shook his head and gave a silent laugh. Carlisle told him to check for any more things that might need a stitch or two. There was none, but many bruises. He traced the outline of one on her cheek, deep in thought.

"I've been thinking, Emmett. About those tracks we found. They were leading away from the meadow, like it was running away; I found some traces of blood farther off. What if it's alive and is still out there? I want to know what Victoria was up to."

"We could have just asked if you hadn't started ripping her arms off." Emmett chuckled, poking fun at his brother. But then he turned serious. "I've been thinking about it too. Look at those chains over there." Emmett pointed. "I'm guessing that it wasn't a Pomeranian she was keeping restrained. Look at those things! They're thick, and there are three separate chains hooked up to the trees. She was afraid of it, probably using it to scare Bella, when _she_ was standing there scared shitless." He rolled his eyes and added sarcastically, "Good plan."

"Yeah, it doesn't make sense does it? Why would she risk her own life for a scare tactic?" Edward whispered.

"I don't know." Emmett said shaking his head. "We could have asked if you…" Emmett couldn't finish his train of thought because he was laughing too hard.

"Oh, be quiet!" Edward said, laughing a little bit too.

Carlisle and Emmett switched places so Carlisle could work on Bella's shoulder. He told Emmett to throw the bloody towels into the fire.

"How are we going to explain this?" Edward asked. It was a bit hard to come up with excuses. Especially for this.

"We planted a rock for the broken window. Some kids these days get so rowdy." Carlisle laughed a bit. "Charlie didn't know that Bella was in the hospital in the first place, but all the nurses have already seen her. So we'll just say that I checked her out, she went hiking with you, Emmett, Jasper and Alice, when you guys were attacked by a bear. Bella's not that coordinated, so we'll say she fell and the bear came after her, but thankfully, you guys ran it off by making yourselves look big and throwing stones at it. Wow, I have heroes for kids. How lucky am I?"

They chuckled a bit more. "Do you think she'll be able to walk a bit tomorrow? I mean, no hikes, just walking around. We could get her a wheel chair or something?" Edward asked.

"It depends on how she's feeling. Why what's going on?" Carlisle asked.

"There is this pow-wow going on in Beaver, My friend is there and I wanted Bella to meet her."

"The Quileutes will be up there. They won't be happy about you showing up."

"It's out of there boundary, I have every right to be there. It's also like a fair. We can be there."

"Okay, ask once she's awake tomorrow. Alright? I need to pay attention to what I'm doing."

"Come on Dad, you could do that with your eyes closed." Edward said.

"Yeah, but I want to be extra careful. She means a lot to me too."

Once Carlisle was done stitching Bella up, He gave, Edward the nod to carry Bella off to the house. "Don't run with her though, I don't want her stitches coming undone."

Edward took Bella home and laid her on the hide-a-bed in his room. He grabbed the blankets and put them around her frame, tucking her in. Edward lay next to her all night and all the next morning until she woke up at 10:00. "Welcome back, baby." He whispered.


	20. Kiss The Tears From My Eyes

I woke up to find myself staring at Edward's stereo system. I turned my head slowly to find myself looking into Edward's topaz eyes. He leaned forward and kissed me on the forehead. "Welcome back, baby."

"What time is it? What day is it?" I was so confused. Had everything been a horrible nightmare?

"It's 10:00 in the morning, on a Saturday. I have a surprise for you, if you're up to it. We could go later if you want to sleep longer." He smiled lovingly at me.

"What would we be doing? OUCH!" I yelled as I moved my left leg. So it _was_ real. I looked at my shoulder, yep it was defiantly real.

Edward looked worried, "Maybe we shouldn't go, I think you should go back to sleep."

Though sleep sounded nice, he had sparked my curiosity. What was going on? "What do you have planned? I want to go; I don't feel like sleeping anyway."

"There's this fair and pow-wow down in Beaver, I wanted to see if you wanted to go with me, Jasper, Alice, and Emmett. Rosalie doesn't feel like it apparently." He rolled his eyes. "Are you sure you would want to go?"

"Yeah, it will be fun. We don't have fairs in Phoenix. You said pow-wow though. Like the Quileute pow-wow? Wouldn't that be breaking the treaty or something?"

"No, it's in Beaver, off the reservation. The elders apparently thought that having the pow-wow at the same time as the fair would bring more money in for the natives who sell crafts. We can go, people won't be happy, but we can still go." He gave me a wink and another kiss. "I'll get Alice in here to take you home, get a shower get dressed and we'll go to the fair."

Alice drove me to the house, I nearly cried when I saw how clean the kitchen was, but the real tears came when I looked behind the stove and didn't see the moldy piece of pizza.

"Are you okay? I told Edward that you wouldn't be up to going to the fair today, he just wouldn't listen." Alice said giving me a tender hug.

"No, it's not that. It's just that that stupid piece of pizza is gone." I sobbed. "I was afraid that I would have to live the rest of my life knowing that there was a gross piece of pizza behind my stove. I'm the happiest person in the world!"

Alice patted my back. "Maybe I should call Edward; I think you're going into shock."

"I'll be fine; I just need to take things slow for now."

Alice helped me up the stairs. I could walk fairly normal, even with stitches down the whole front of my leg; it was going up stairs that hurt. We made it though. I got my toiletries from my bedroom and went into the bathroom. Alice already had the shower going.

"Just call me in when you need help. I think I'll wash your hair for you, since you can only use one arm. Will you be fine until then?"

"Yeah, thank you Alice." Alice helping me in the shower was no big deal; she had done the same thing after my run in with James. My Dad was in love with Alice, he didn't want to be the one to help his grown daughter in the shower.

Once I was out of the shower, Alice blow-dried my hair and curled the ends. I told her that the curling was pointless, it would rain and all of her efforts to tame my hair would have been futile, but she insisted. Edward won't be able to control himself she told me. She also brought out some cover up. I wasn't so sure about putting it on; I didn't ware very much makeup. I couldn't understand why she was so insistent on having me where it until I looked in the mirror. I had a large bruise on my right cheek and around my eye; I had a smaller bruise on the other cheek. Alice was a genius though, with a few swipes of foundation here and there I looked like normal.

"This stuff is the best!" she raved.

"But you don't even need to where makeup." I pointed out.

"Yeah, but it's not mine, I swiped it from Rosalie's room. She never goes anywhere without some makeup product on, I swear, its ridicules."

I took a look at the foundation container, I couldn't under stand what it said, it was all in German.

Alice picked out a nice, yet casual outfit. A pink long sleeved shirt, I never wore it, it was very form fitting. She also picked out a nice pair of jeans. While looking through my droors she came upon the pink lacey night gown that my Mom had gotten me from Victoria's Secret a long time ago. She held it aloft and looked at me. I ducked my head down in embarrassment and we burst out laughing. She tucked it away again and never said anything more about it. She helped me get into the jeans, which still hurt even with her helping. The material rubbed against my leg and the stitches, but once in them, it wasn't so bad.

We packed into the car again and drove back to the house to pick everyone up. Emmett road with Jasper and Alice, they all thought that I would want some nice alone time with Edward. I grimaced as I got into the Volvo, but once I was settled, all was well. It took a person driving at the speed limit twenty minuets to get to Beaver, but since Edward was going 100 miles per hour, we got there in about five. I told him that he drove too fast for me to have a normal heart rate, when he commented that it sounded like my heart was beating double time. It was, of course, a lie. My heart was racing because he had his hand on my thigh, I could feel his cold hand through my jeans and the cool felt good on skin that was swelling around the stitches.

"Too fast? I was taking it easy for you. 100 miles per hour is nothing." He joked.

Alice pulled up along side us in a matter of minuets. Everyone filed out of the car looking at the throng of people before us. I honestly never thought that there were that many people living on the Olympic Peninsula. That of course was exaggerated, but when all you saw where the same people from Forks _every day_, you began to think you were isolated.

All of the craft booths were run my Indians, selling what they had made by hand, asking for very little money for what they worked so hard on. There were tourists running around taking pictures of everything. I waved to Billy; he was sitting at a booth with some of the elders, selling raffle tickets. At first, he waved in greeting, but once he realized whose hand I was holding and whose company I was in, he frowned and whispered to the man sitting next to him. Soon the whole table sat there glaring at me. Nice people, I thought.

I ignored their stares and took a better look around me. There was a Tilt-a-Whorl ride, lots of booths and food. This would actually be fun. All the booths and stands were set up in a large circle, in the middle of the ring there were ten people with drums, giving an enchanting beat that seemed to thunder in my chest, there were some women surrounding the men, their voices forming into a chilling chorus that made the hairs on the back of the neck stand up. There were people in the circle, beautifully dressed in ceremonial dress. They danced to the beat of the drums, spinning, and twirling this way and that. It was beautiful.

There was a small stage where a band was setting up. I glanced at Edward, he seemed amused at something, and he was looking at the stage. I looked there too, I didn't find anything that was particularly funny, but a few booths away I saw Jacob at Indian fried bread counter with two other guys. I saw me and waved. I paid for his food and walked over to us. Edward squeezed my hand as Jacob came closer.

"Hi, Bella! What are you doing here?" He was much taller than when I had seen last, all baby fat gone, I was looking at grown up Jacob.

"Oh, nothing, just taking a look around. Is it me or are you taller?" I asked, looking at the two guys on either side of him basically jumping to get an introduction. Edward took his hand out of mine and put his arm around me.

"I'm 6'5" now." He said beaming, running his hand through his hair, it was the first time I had ever seen Jacob without his hair in a ponytail. One of his friends gave a polite cough and nudged Jacob's side. "Oh, and this is Quill and Emery." He said pointing.

There was a loud noise, and then a girl's voice came over the speakers, "Check, 1, 2, 3"

All of the boy's heads turned at the sound, they stood there gazing at the stage, looking at something. Edward was laughing silently beside me. I looked again and finally noticed what they were staring at. There was a girl on the stage, she had beautiful russet skin, her hair was a soft brown color, and it was loose and cascaded past her shoulders. She had a really nice figure; all around I thought she was pretty. I asked Jacob who she was.

"Her name's Shelbie, she came down here from Kettle Falls up in Northeast Washington. Her dad brought her down her to take a look at the guys. She's apart of a tribe some where, I can't remember…" Jacob's eyebrows furrowed together in thought.

"Down in Michigan, she's Chippewa. The Isabella reservation, she has an uncle that lives in Pinconning." Edward said nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulder.

"Yeah, how did you know that? I didn't even know the uncle part, and it's all my Mom has been talking about since yesterday." The boy named Emery said, starring at Edward in awe.

"I've met her before, very nice girl. Her dad wants to find her a good native husband. She's kind of being forced into it."

I glanced from Edward to the girl on the stage. "She's very pretty." I said.

"The whole marriage thing explains why my Mom talked to me about it too." Quill added.

"My Dad told me about her too." Jacob said, still looking at the stage. All of the boys seemed to be thinking about this latest development inwardly.

"Let's go and say hello." Edward said, pulling me away from the boys and steering us over to the stage.

"Do you like her?" I asked. I couldn't help it; she was just so, I don't know, beautiful.

"As a friend yes, she is a very nice person. You'd like her. She's been through a lot in her life, sometimes I'm surprised she even smiles the way she does.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I read her thoughts, lots of deaths in her family, her Dad has cancer, and he had a stroke a little while back." He said. "I met her at her niece's grave."

I looked behind us, to find that Emmett, Jasper and Alice had left to go and look around. I also saw that the boys were still standing where we had left them.

When I turned around, we were already to the apron of the stage. The girl was sitting on the corner and jumped up as Edward and I approached.

"Hi, Edward!" She said, flashing a big smile at both of us. She was even prettier when she smiled.

"Hello, Shelbie, I want you to meet someone. Bella, this is my friend Shelbie. Shelbie, this is my girlfriend Bella." He smiled.

"Hi, Bella. How has your day been so far? Do you like the pow-wow?" she said making conversation, smiling, shaking my hand. She was nice; I couldn't help but like her.

"The fair has been pretty good so far, we kind of just got here, but it's been great."

"I get to do my bit in a little while. I'm going to sing some songs, ya know…" she said, her head held down, she was obviously embarrassed. "I'm kind of nervous though. I feel like I have a hundred butterflies zooming around in my stomach right about now." She smiled.

"I'm sure you'll be great." Edward smiled, encouraging her.

"I don't know, I like singing…in the shower, in the car, in church, in other words, when I'm basically alone. But it was my Dad's idea really." She said shrugging.

"So how's the man hunt going?" Edward chuckled.

Shelbie rolled her eyes. "My Dad is trying to make my presence here known, to everybody. He told one of the elders, the one in the wheel chair about what we were doing here, told him to tell other parents of kids my own age." She sighed heavily. "It doesn't seem to be working though. It's like I'm invisible to every guy here. I don't know whether to be happy or sad." She laughed.

"Oh, I wouldn't say you were invisible." Edward said, looking back to Jacob. "Give them all time, they'll come running, trust me."

An old man walked across the stage, leaning heavily on his cane. He gently tapped Shelbie on the shoulder with it. "Pomjanook, you're time slot is here. One of the elders will introduce you." Shelbie nodded her head. "That means get up here." He said.

"Yes, sir." She said, jumping up onto the stage. "You'll guys watch me right?" she asked still unsure of herself.

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it for the world." He said smiling.

We stood back a little, nearly running into Emmett. "Hey, you two, what's going on up here?" he asked.

"Mini concert. I know the girl singing." Edward informed him.

Mmmm, had been his only response. An elderly man walked up to the mic. "Hey everybody! I hope you're all having a good time here this morning. I'm here to thank you for your generous donations in buying the raffles for a monument to the Great Wolf, thank you." I looked at Emmett; he snorted and muttered something about dumb animals under his breath. "I'd like to introduce, our sister from the Chippewa tribe, Shelbie James. Shelbie's going to sing some songs for us today. Lets give her a round of applause." He stepped away from the mike, clapping.

Behind us, there was great roar and a few fox whistles, it seemed that every native boy from 14-17 had turned out for the concert, each competing to see who could make the most noise. As far as I could tell Jacob Black was winning.

"Thank you!" Shelbie said, smiling. Edward began to chuckle a little. "This song is called 'Stay'"

"What are you laughing at?" I asked.

"When she came to the mic, all of the guys here basically had a heart attack. Ha, I told her."

There was a little guitar intro, then Shelbie put her lips to the microphone and started singing. Her voice was honest and angelic.

"_How can I bare to wake up and you're not there_

_What will I do when I turn and reach for you?_

_I'll lay my tears on the windowsill_

_I'll only cry till I get over you_

_But how long will it take me_

_Won't you save me…?_

Edward took my hand and pulled me close.

"Will you dance with me? It's a slow song; you usually are supposed to dance." We started going around in slow circles, he was obviously not taking no for an answer.

_Stay_

_Just a little bit longer_

_Till I'm a little bit stronger to take all his, and…_

_Stay_

_Just a little more time_

_Till I can find a way_

_Please stay_

_Will I ever smile again?_

_When losing love takes my best friend_

_To wonder where, wonder how_

_Wonder what you're doing_

_One more night just before you break me_

_Hold me safely_

I leaned close to whisper in his ear, "this was how I felt when you left. Do you know that? I would have let you go, as long as I would have had one more night with you."

"Bella, I was going to come back, I couldn't imagine my life without you. Rosalie had talked to me while you were sleeping; it made sense, for a while. After our fight, I had to go and think, so I left, I was going to come back…I'm so sorry Bella" His voice sound pained.

I kissed his cool lips. "I know. I know you would have come back." I laid me head on his shoulder.

_So I'll be a big girl and close my eyes_

_As you walk away don't say good-bye_

_God save me_

_Please won't you_

_Stay_

Edward and I spun around again and again, but then something caught my eye. A face, in the shadows, I knew that face.

"Alessandro." I breathed. We stopped spinning.

"Who do you see?" Edward said, getting defensive, taking a protective stance in front of me. Alice, Jasper and Emmett came closer to us, sensing the change.

"What's wrong?" Emmett said in Edward's ear.

"It's Alessandro." He said simply.

"Alla-who?"

"Alessandro, he was chained in the meadow with me. Victoria thought that if she let him go, he would feed on me, but he attacked her instead, he was not…human. An animal, he was a Beast." I said, still looking in Alessandro's eyes. His face showed no sign of ever being clawed. He nodded once and disappeared.

"Just ignore it, he won't hurt anyone." I said, turning Edward around to continue to dace to the remainder of the song.

_Stay_

_Just a little bit longer_

_Till I'm a little bit stronger to take all this _

_Stay_

_Just a little more time_

_Till I can find a way_

_Please stay_"

Everyone stopped dancing to clap, fox whistle, some where in the crowed a kid yelled "Pick me".

Edward laughed, but he was still tense. I leaned forward and kissed him again. "I love you." I whispered.

"I'm going to love you until the day that I die, Isabella Marie Swan." Edward replied. My eyes filled with tears, I new he spoke the truth.

The tears started to brim over, I couldn't help it. Edward just smiled and kissed them all away.

**Authors note: Hey Nick, my guessed wrong, six pages, my bad. Yayer!**


	21. What Have I gotten Myself Into?

Edward and I danced through the rest of the songs Shelbie sang. The longer she was up there the more comfortable she got, and the more people came.

"_Lookin' for to make some sense out of nothin'_

_Lookin' for the hunger to hang on_

_Lookin' for to know if you're really worth it_

_Lookin' for a reason not to be gone_."

There were other songs too. She mostly sang of love and heartache, one that really got people worked up was when she started to sing "Redneck Women" and lots of cheers from the natives at "Indian Outlaw" The song that she sang last though, brought tears to my eyes.

"Are you okay?" Edward whispered in my ear, "Is it your leg, your shoulder?"

I shook my head "no" I sniffed a little, "It's the song."

He just shook his head and kissed my hair, while we danced. The song explained exactly how I felt about Edward.

"_I turned around_

_Before I could run I found you already settled down in the back of my mind_

_I know this is just a customary feelin'_

_The moon is our deceiver that will leave you running blind_

_Your heart is pullin'_

_If I didn't know any better_

_I'd be fallin'_

_Deeper and deeper it's true_

_I'd hear it callin'_

_If I didn't know any better_

_And I'd be in love with you_

_I didn't want to_

_Look in the eyes of the one that I would be drawn to_

_I'm a moth lost in a fire_

_And I know this is just a beautiful illusion, a case of confusion, between love and desire_

_When the flame burns out_

_And finely settles down_

_And you'd forget I ever came around_

_I turned around_

_Before I could run I found you already settled down in the back of my mind_"

Shelbie walked off the stage a little more confident. The applause she got at the end was amazing. All of the people had loved her. She walked over to where Edward, Alice, Jasper Emmett and I stood, with a sheepish grin on her face.

"Well, I guess that went okay." She said her head down, trying to hide behind her hair.

"Okay? Okay doesn't cover it that was fuckin' awesome!" Emmett said giving her a little pat on the shoulder, that little pat resulted in Shelbie almost falling on her face, but she never complained.

"Shelbie, these are my brothers Emmett and Jasper, and my sister Alice. Everyone, this is Shelbie. I met her while I was away."

Recognition caught in Alice's eyes. This was the girl she had had a vision of, Edward's arm around her. She would have to talk to him about that later. But now she extended he hand out to Shelbie, "Very nice to meet you."

"Thanks. You too." Shelbie said, shaking Alice's hand briefly.

I giggled as I saw the posse of boys that had stationed themselves a little ways behind her, she hadn't noticed yet, but all of them were looking her over, more than once, like she was this beautiful flower that could spit poison at you. They all admired, but from a safe distance.

When I tore my eyes away from the group of guys I realized that Jasper, Alice and Emmett where gone, yet again. Edward chuckled beside me; he bent low and whispered in my ear. "Call Jacob over here, introduce him to Shelbie. All the other boys will leave and it will make it so we can have a small group setting."

"Why only Jacob? Why not Quill or Emery too?" I asked.

"Because I can read their thoughts, Jacob's the best pick. They have a lot in common and he actually wants to get to know her, not _know_ her, if you understand."

"Oh, right. Jacob! Come over here for a second!" I yelled.

He quickly came, walking fast, looking at Shelbie and back to the guys, who were all pouting and making rude gestures, which he returned. "Hey, Bella." He said in that husky voice of his. "What do you need?"

"Nothing, I just wanted you to meet my friend Shelbie James. Shelbie, this is my friend Jacob Black, we used to play together when we were kids."

Shelbie smiled at Jacob, extending her hand. He took it, "Hello, Shelbie." He smiled sweetly back at her.

"So you've been living on the rez your whole life? Pretty boring?" Shelbie said to Jacob by way of trying to make conversation.

"Yeah, and trust me, it is boring, this is the most exciting thing to happen in a long time." He said.

"So you're pretty well associated with your language?"

"Heck yes."

The conversation from then on was about different words and what they meant. They included Edward and me in on the conversation by teaching us some things.

"I always thought it was kind of funny," Shelbie said. "Our word for 'hello' is '_boozsho_'. _Boozsho_ sounds like the French '_bonjour_', their word for 'hello'. We are a world apart, yet our hellos sound the same."

"Wow! That is weird." I said.

"Yeah, but then you get into like spellings and stuff. The word '_wassitawendamowin_' has seventeen letters in total, but all it means is 'sorrow'. But at the same time, '_wasswa_' means 'I am spearing fish at night by the light of a torch' It's pretty funny." Shelbie explained.

"Hey, I was starting to get pretty hungry; can I get you something to eat?" Jacob asked Shelbie.

"Yeah, I'll come with you. Do you want anything Bella? Edward? I can bring you back something."

We both shook our heads "no". "Take your time." I winked to Shelbie; she blushed a little and walked away hand in hand with Jacob Black.

"Her Dad will be happy." Edward said, "She'll be happy too. I thought it would help if I picked someone who she and her father would like, less fights that way." He smiled at me and steered me over to a game. I winced a little; my leg was starting to burn.

"Do you need some more pain relievers?" Edward pulled a bottle of pills and gave me one, then bought me a small soda. I took the pill happily.

"They are pretty cute though. Awe, look at them! They're holding hands!" I said.

Edward laughed. "Yep, Billy and her Dad already get along; they're talking to each other over there." Edward pointed. "They seem content with the match up."

We sat there for a while, waiting for the pain killer to take effect, watching Shelbie and Jacob's relationship blossom. It started out with hand holding and escalated to Jacob's arm around her waist. They stood there talking and joking around with Emery and Quill.

I leaned against Edward's shoulder with a sigh. "I'm tired. I'm more than tired, I'm exhausted."

"We'll find Jasper, Emmett and Alice, pack up and go. Let's say good-bye to Shelbie and Jacob first."

We walked slowly over to the group; they all stood there laughing when we came close. "That's sick Quill!" Shelbie laughed.

"Hey Shelbie, it was nice meeting you, Edward and I are going to pack up here in a second."

"Leaving so soon? That's too bad, I'm going to be in town for a few more weeks, and maybe I'll get a ride over to your house. Where is it?"

I gave her directions to my house, gave her and Jacob a hug and said good-bye to Emery and Quill. While I was sitting in the car next to Edward looking at the scenery I dozed off. When I woke up, I was in my pajamas in my bed. I looked at the clock, it read 10:47. Had I honestly been asleep for that long? The last time when I had looked at the clock in Edward's car it read 3:00 in the afternoon. I slowly turned my head and looked into Edward's eyes. He gently drew me closer to him, lifting my head to kiss me; he lowered his lips to the nape of my neck, my collar bone, up to behind my ear and back to my lips.

"What's all the attention for?" I whispered, smiling.

"I have to go hunting tonight; I'm trying to get all the lovin' in that I can. Is that a problem?" He asked, rubbing his nose on mine and winking.

"No, no, not at all. Continue."

He brought his lips to mine, the kiss was passionate. When his tongue touched mine I thought that I would scream, that was, if I could breathe. My heart pounded in my chest, when I finally was able to breathe, it came in shaking gasps. He dropped his mouth and laid his head on my chest, listening to the beat of my heart.

"The last time you kissed me like that, you left me. You left me hanging by a fragile thread, and I was ready to die, do anything to get away from the hurt. And now I'm afraid to let you out of my sight."

He was still, not moving, not wanting to answer.

"You're not really going hunting...are you?" I said.

He turned his topaz eyes on me. "No, I'm not."

"You won't find him, it's no use, and I honestly don't think he would hurt anyone. Alessandro saved me if anything else."

"There are still a lot of loose ends, we don't know for sure if he won't kill anyone. He is a monster, no matter what he told you he was before, he's a beast now. A creature from hell, I can't stand the thought of that monstrosity being anywhere near you." He looked to the window, "Emmett's here, I have to go. I'll be back with you before the morning." He held me close again. "I love you." With that he was gone and out the window.

"I love you too." I said, a little late.

I woke again to the soft sound of foot steps and my window closing. I sat up blurry eyed. "Edward?"

I rubbed my eyes with the heel of my hand to clear them, I saw standing there, Alessandro. His pale skin glowing in the moonlight, an angelic smile spread across his face.

I tried to scream, but it was caught in my throat. He stepped closer to me and whispered in my ear, my heart stopped beating in my chest.

"_Buonanotte cara angelo_. I'll be watching." He whispered, so close to me I could feel his breath on my neck. He kissed my cheek and was gone.

What had I gotten myself into?

**Author's note: It Was Twilight Once More is over. This was the last chapter. I hoped you enjoyed the story, this was my first fanfic and I want to thank everyone who has reviewed. You know who you are! Without your guys' support, I would probably be on chapter 10. Thank you! Look for the sequel, coming soon! I'm taking a break for school but the sequel is in the works! **


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